Smith signed for Stoke City in September 1966 after telling manager Tony Waddington that he was going to sign a contract at another club; though Waddington was not keen on Smith's hard-tackling style, he did not want to lose the young player. At the age of 18 he faced Leeds United's FWA Footballer of the Year Bobby Collins in a reserve match, and despite Collins going as far as to punch him in the face Smith managed to last the entire match without backing down in an extremely physical contest. However, for a period Waddington banned Smith from playing against first-team players in training as he feared Smith would injure one of his players. He made his first-team debut in the Football League against Arsenal in September 1968, and was given the task of man-marking Bobby Gould. He gave away a penalty after fouling Jon Sammels, which Terry Neill converted for the only goal of the match, but otherwise made a solid debut. However, in his second appearance he gave away two penalties in a 3–1 defeat away to Ipswich Town, and had to wait five months for another first-team appearance. In March 1969, Alan Bloor picked up a knock and Smith returned to the starting line-up in a 5–1 defeat to Leeds, failing in his task to man mark Mick Jones, who claimed a hat-trick. Despite the poor start to his senior career, he managed to finish the 1968–69 season with 14 First Division appearances to his name, and was occasionally used as an emergency striker.