page_title: Craig Mackail-Smith
section_title: Brighton & Hove Albion
hierarchical_section_title: Craig Mackail-Smith / Club career / Brighton & Hove Albion
caption_attribution_description: Craig Mackail-Smith - Amex Opening
context_page_description: Craig Anthony Robert Mackail-Smith is a professional footballer who plays as a striker. He has played in the English Football League for Brighton & Hove Albion, Luton Town, Peterborough United, Wycombe Wanderers, Notts County and Stevenage, and at senior international level for the Scotland national team.
context_section_description: On 4 July 2011, Mackail-Smith joined Brighton & Hove Albion for an initial transfer fee of £2.5 million, possibly rising to £3.25 million, signing a four-year contract. He scored his first goal for Brighton in a 1–0 win away to Portsmouth on 13 August. Mackail-Smith then scored four goals in his next seven matches, including a brace in a 3–3 draw at home to Leeds United. However, Mackail-Smith then hit a goal drought and struggled to score, netting just one goal between October and February in a 1–0 win away to Derby County on 29 November. He ended his goal drought by coming off the bench to score the opening goal in a 2–1 win away to Leeds United, Brighton's first away victory over Leeds in 26 years. On his 28th birthday, Mackail-Smith scored at Falmer Stadium for the first time in five months in a 3–0 win at home to Ipswich Town, and scored again the next weekend in a 1–1 draw with Doncaster Rovers. In total, Mackail-Smith scored 10 goals for Brighton, and he revealed his disappointment at his goal haul, which he largely put down to adapting to Brighton's passing style of football.
  Mackail-Smith enjoyed a strong start to the 2012–13 season, scoring six goals in six games. This included two spectacular strikes, one an overhead kick, in a 3–1 victory over Burnley. He scored a total of 11 goals before a serious injury to his Achilles tendon on 5 March 2013 prevented him from playing for 13 months. Mackail-Smith returned for Brighton's final run-in to the 2013–14 season, playing in both legs of the play-off semi-final against Derby County, which the club lost 6–2 on aggregate. During the 2014–15 season, Mackail-Smith found himself back in the first-team under new manager Sami Hyypiä, but struggled to score, netting just three goals in 34 appearances in all competitions. On 24 April 2015, Brighton confirmed that Mackail-Smith's contract would not be renewed and that he would leave the club during the summer.
caption: Mackail-Smith playing for Brighton & Hove Albion in 2011
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