Town Player of the Year Tommy Smith has extended his Blues’ contract until June 2016. The New Zealand international, 23, was previously tied down until the summer of 2014.
Smith, who met with joint-managing director Jonathan Symonds to put pen to paper on his new terms this morning, told the club site: "I’m delighted to extend my stay at Town.
"It’s great that the club have shown loyalty with me and that I’ve shown my loyalty to the club as well.
"I’ve been here since I was 16 years old and I love the club. Hopefully, I can be here for a few more years to come and we can be successful.
"The club means a lot to me and I’ve developed a great relationship with the fans. It’s also great to see players coming out of the academy and into the first team, like myself, Luke Hyam and Josh Carson.”
The Macclesfield-born centre-half lived in New Zealand between the ages of eight and 16. Having spent his school holidays training at Playford Road and lining up for the Blues' U16s, Smith was handed a two-year scholarship in March 2006, starting that summer.
Having spent time on loan at Stevenage in the second half of 2007/08 Smith made his Town first team debut on the opening day of the following season, a 2-1 home defeat to Preston. A broken ankle sustained in training saw him miss all but the final game of that campaign.
Further loan spells at Brentford and Colchester followed as Smith was in and out of the Town first team under Roy Keane and Paul Jewell's management.
Smith swept most of Town’s Player of the Year awards last season having formed an outstanding central defensive partnership with Luke Chambers in the months after Mick McCarthy took over as boss.
He has now made 104 starts and eight sub appearances for the Blues, scoring 10 goals, as well as winning 22 caps, including all three games at the 2010 World Cup, and scoring two goals for the All Whites.
Photo: ITFC