The truth was that he played for teams including Spurs Under-23 while out of contract. He also went to Swindon, Fleetwood and Bury but none of the deals were right. There was also that nagging feeling that he was not enjoying football.

“In your head you’re telling people that you’re giving up a job that is everyone’s dream. I suppose that is the hard bit,” he said. “When you get older things can change and it’s just being brave enough to come to terms it might not be for you. Even for people who aren’t in football, maybe they are in a job they are unhappy with and want to get out of. My story can maybe help people make a decision.”

Southend has been a breeding ground for goalkeeping talent, with Daniel Bentley moving to Brentford and Bristol City, while Nathan Bishop secured a move to Manchester United in January.

Smith was competing for the No 1 jersey when his shoulder blade split in half and he was out for 18 months. Criticism on social media had hurt when he was playing at a time when clubs and the PFA knew little about the effect it had on players as they rarely want to share it.

“After a game I’d go back and look on social media straight away and see what people were saying,” he said. “For 90 per cent of the time there was nothing but if there were two or three comments after a bad game, I’d hold onto it if I got criticised. It would affect me during the week. Instead of looking at the positives, the negatives would niggle at me.

“Social media is good for some things. Fans are just talking about the game they’ve just seen, which they of course have a right to do, but I ended up deleting my Twitter and eventually deleting my Instagram account as I found myself procrastinating on them at things I didn’t really need to be looking at it.

“You should enjoy games. It wasn’t for want of trying. I tried so hard to go into a game enjoying it but couldn’t. I tried everything. I built up that fear of playing a game for so long. I just can’t switch that off.

“I saw a sports psychologist. Deep down if I had a match I wouldn’t be excited. It would be the initial thought of dread and then it ingrained in me that I couldn’t get my head around it. I wish I could. But I look at it now and don’t want to take that opportunity to play a game away from someone else to progress and enjoy it.”

Smith says playing for England’s youth teams was one of the proudest moments of his career. He is still in touch with Harry Winks from his age group and played with the likes of Dele Alli, Ben Chilwell and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.