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

Photo: Action Images

1967blue added 13:09 - May 23 Fantastic news
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howdonblue added 13:10 - May 23 Fantastic news . Well earned since big mick came in tommy has been an inspiration . Long may it continue. IN MICK WE TRUST
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gypo added 13:13 - May 23 Fantastic :-)
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cthulhu added 13:17 - May 23 Very good news indeed. Also love the way it was just done and announced, without 6 weeks of "Smith rumoured to be signing contract extension", and "Delays in Smith signature - is he happy?" and similar waffle...
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TimmyH added 13:17 - May 23 Good news - I thought there might be a chance of one of the Premiership clubs coming in for him but now he's signed an extension it's not going to happen for the time being.
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Liastro added 13:17 - May 23 Wahoo! Brilliant news!
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Tufty added 13:18 - May 23 Thank you Tommy true blue
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dickie added 13:19 - May 23 Why does the club need a managing director for cannabis?
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HALLSJ added 13:22 - May 23 Excellent news, thank you TS. Roll on August
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canveyblue added 13:23 - May 23 Good news. Lets hope for a bit of success while Tommy is here.
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StowTractorBoy added 13:23 - May 23 I must admit I had doubts when he reached his low ebb including failing at Colchester when on loan but fair play to Tommy he has done brilliantly and great to have a player who loves the Club. Long may it continue.
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Blandford added 13:25 - May 23 Great news. For the first time in many years I believe our success in the new season will depend on who stays at the club as much as who we sign - this news is certainly a step in the right direction.
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FenboyBlue added 13:26 - May 23 I see Phil Jupitus has finally shaved his goatee beard off.
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JewellintheTown added 13:27 - May 23 Great news. Come on leaps and bounds this season. Must give some credit to Chambers for this too.
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PeekFreans added 13:27 - May 23 Excellent work all 'round. It's great to see such commitment to, and by, our club.
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dude added 13:29 - May 23 Great.
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rikksow added 13:30 - May 23 Good and thanks for the loyalty Tommy.
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BotesdaleBlue added 13:31 - May 23 Excellent and very well deserved. There have been no rumours of this and this makes the news seem even better. I know Hyam is also in the last year of his contract, and I believe the Club should look to tie him down to a longer deal as soon as they can.
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hampstead_blue added 13:32 - May 23 Excellent news.
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Michael11 added 13:37 - May 23 Fantastic news and fully deserved too. Been our player of the season for me. Nice to see we're not going to let players contracts run down now like previous years.
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Tractamatt added 13:40 - May 23 Excellent news, now lets do the same with Chambers and most importantly Cressy splash out on Stearman and we will have kept one of the best back fours in the leauge together and I have no dought that we will all be supporting a premiere league side with in 2 seasons
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pimballwizard added 13:55 - May 23 As most of my contempories know I rarely post on here but I feel this is excellent news. Rock on Tommy. Great news indeed !!
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bluehook added 14:05 - May 23 All the youth team and younger 1st team players take note A lot of perseverance and dedication pays off in the long run. It's not all about take the bigger money and move on. Cheers Tommy for your loyalty and hard work during the past season. Keep your head down and you're going to be in the Premiership with the mighty Blues before too long.
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BillBlue added 14:09 - May 23 A good football team is built on a strong defence and this is it. Thank you Tommy and well done to the Club too. Let us not forget Luke Chambers and Cressy and hope we can afford Mr. Stearman but if not I have a feeling there is an excellent young fellow just waiting to show what he is made of. Let us now get an attacking midfielder with a brain and sort out the strikers too and make Mr. Murphy's loan a permanent deal, he has been here so long it feels as though he is a fixture anyway. Last year I was frightened to hope but this year I am beginning to dream again! COYB

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JimmyBlue added 14:25 - May 23 Nice one Tommy!
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