A-Jay Leitch-Smith

Crewe Alexandra

Whilst on the books at Crewe Alexandra as a youth player, Leitch-Smith was loaned out to non-League clubs Halifax Town in November 2008 and Newcastle Town in March 2009. He signed his first professional contract in April 2009, before joining Icelandic club ÍBV on loan. He was recalled from his loan, along with Chris Clements, in early September due to injury problems at Crewe. He made his League Two debut for Crewe at Gresty Road in a 3–2 defeat to Bury on 29 September 2009, replacing Joel Grant as a substitute in the 80th minute. This was his only appearance of the 2009–10 season. He joined Curzon Ashton on loan in March 2010. He scored seven goals in ten Northern Premier League appearances, which was enough to win him a new contract at Crewe. He scored his first goal in the English Football League on 21 August 2010, adding the final goal of the "Railwaymen's" 7–0 win over Barnet. However, he was limited to only 18 appearances in the 2010–11 season as he struggled to step up to first-team football, and manager Dario Gradi devised a special pre-season fitness programme in the summer to help him to adapt to senior football. Leitch-Smith scored nine goals in 44 games in the 2011–12 campaign. He signed a new one-year contract in April 2012, and manager Steve Davis stated, "I'd like to think that he can become the 15 to 20 goal a season man we need." On 27 May, he played the first 85 minutes of the League Two play-off final victory over Cheltenham Town at…

Though Leitch-Smith lacks natural athleticism and pace, he is an intelligent and creative attacker with good technical skills and a high work rate. Former teammate Tom Pope stated that Leitch-Smith was "one of the most intelligent strikers... in League One".

As of match played 26 April 2025

Crewe Alexandra

Football League Two play-offs: 2012 Football League Trophy: 2012–13