Portsmouth set to land pacy teenage ‘wild card’ amid exciting emergence
We’ve got the lowdown on the teenage New Zealand international making waves in the A-League for you, as Pompey close in on a deal for the attacking Wellington Phoenix talent.
Big landmarks
Brooke-Smith only turned 18 earlier this month, but the attacking talent has already reached a number of landmarks in his young career.
In December 2024, Brooke-Smith became Wellington Phoenix’s youngest-ever player at 16 years, six months and 16 days, featuring in the A-League against West Sydney Wanderers
Then, last September became the youngest player to feature for New Zealand since 1980 - and the second youngest in their history - as he came off the bench against September.
A-League experience
The teenager has already got an impressive 33 A-League appearances to his name, though most of those have arrived as a substitute.
Nineteen of those outings arrived last season, with Brooke-Smith returning two assists from 389 minutes of playing time. He played right across the front line, though the majority came on the right flank.
BMX bandit
Football may be where Brooke-Smith is making waves at present, but he is also a world class BMX rider.
An eight-time national champion, Brooke-Smith finished second at the world championships in Belgium in 2019.
That’s brought injuries along the way and built the teenager’s resolve.
Brooke-Smith said: ‘I was seven when I went to my first world champs.
‘I qualified for the quarter-final, crashed out and got a concussion. Next year in Columbia, I made the final. So I was top eight in the world. I was in third, but crashed in the final.
‘In 2017, I broke my leg six weeks before. I got out of my cast a week before the competition and ended up getting sixth in the world.
‘Then 2019 is when I got second and then in my last world champs in 2022, this American takes me out and that’s it, my world champs done. So I think BMX made me mentally very strong.’
Squad benefits
Brooke-Smith’s dad is Englishman Phil Brooke-Smith, who is a British BMX champion with his mother from Malawi.
His family background is beneficial when it comes to working within the confines of Home Office rules. Brooke-Smith holds a British passport which negates the need for a work permit. He also will not take up an Elite Significant Contribution (ESC) slot for players who don’t meet the Governing Body Endorsement (GBE) threshold. That leaves one of the four ESC spaces available for other players.
Likewise, contracted under-21 players don’t count towards the 25-man squad total Pompey have to work within.
Football story
Brooke-Smith played for the RH3 Academy as a youngster with his first senior team Cambridge, the same club who New Zealand captain and Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood emerged with.
Wellington made their move when the pacy operator was 16, after impressing when helping New Zealand win the OFC Under-16 Championships in Tahiti.
Further international recognition came in the World Under-20 Championships, as he picked up a goal from three outings in the competition.
New Zealand head coach and former Watford midfielder Darren Bazeley is a fan of Brooke-Smith’s maverick qualities.
He said ahead of last season: ‘I think the challenge for him now is he needs to have a really big season, down at the Phoenix.
‘Hopefully he’s after that breakout season, scores goals and plays a lot of minutes, which is up to him.
‘What we’ve seen in him is that he’s a little bit different to any other players we have. He does have a bit of pace. He does like to take people on. That’s something that we’re probably missing in our squad.
‘He’s a little bit of a wild card.’