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It’s been the season’s most talked about transfer – handing Matt Smith the coveted Doctor Who shirt.

But the little-known 26-year-old is just the man to tackle the Cybermen and put one past the Daleks. After all, he was a dynamo on the football pitch.

Captain of his school team, and scouted by then Premier League club Leicester City, his future as a professional footballer looked bright. But a back injury at the age of 16 ended his sporting dream.

Undeterred, he ploughed all his energy into acting. And found he was just as talented treading the boards as he was on the pitch. This week he was unveiled as the 11th Doctor – the TV world’s equivalent of being named Player of the Year.

Drama graduate Matt, best known as nerdy Danny Foster in BBC2’s Party Animals, will be the youngest Doctor to wield a sonic screwdriver in the BBC1 series.

Fans of the show have questioned whether he is up to the job. But they haven’t reckoned with his will to win.

That drive was evident to all those who worked with the former footballer.

Matt, who grew up in Great Billing, Northampton, helped local youth team Billing United to win a five-a-side tournament. Aged 10 he was scouted by Northampton Town, then he played in Nottingham Forest’s under-13 side.

Mick Raynor, who ran Forest’s youth scheme, said: “Matt was a talented player. He was with Jermaine Jenas, Michael Dawson and Andy Reid who are all internationals now. That shows how highly we rated him.”

After a couple of years Matt joined Leicester City. The club’s former coach Jon Rudkin said: “He was a central defender and we had high hopes for him.

“What struck everyone was how determined he was.

“He’d travel every day from Northampton. He was desperate to make it.”

Sadly Matt was unable to overcome his back problem and was dropped. Jon said: “He battled with his injury but couldn’t get over it. It was a terrible shame.”

Fortunately his skills weren’t limited to the football pitch. As one-time headboy at Northampton Grammar, Matt excelled at most things. Old mate Andy Harwood, 25, said: “Matt was one of those annoying people who was brilliant at everything. He was football captain, head boy, intelligent and, of course, pretty good at drama.”

His GCSE drama teacher Matt Evans added: “Matt’s real passion was soccer, but after the injury he threw everything into his acting.

“He’s not one of those kids who went to drama classes from the age of four and had pushy parents. There is nothing ‘lovey’ about Matt, he has a very real edge.”

In fact, his acting was so convincing that a classroom almost burned down because of it.

Mr Evans said: “My lasting memory of Matt is burning down the drama studio. I’d popped to the office when he came running in shouting, ‘Sir, the studio’s on fire’.

“You never really knew when Matt was acting and when he was serious, so I told him not to be stupid. Within 10 seconds smoke was coming down the corridor.”

No doubt his debut as a Time Lord, which we will see in 2010, will be just as scorching.