Background
Small was born in Birmingham and began his career as a trainee at Aston Villa making his debut away at Everton in 1991-1992.
Small was born in Birmingham and began his career as a trainee at Aston Villa making his debut away at Everton in 1991-1992.
He started out as a trainee at his hometown club Aston Villa and played for a total of 11 clubs in a series of free transfers and loan deals. Small played for Birmingham City,, Luton Town, Bradford City, Bury, Stoke City and Walsall. At international level he was capped 12 times for the England under-21 team
He played in 13 matches that season and made 15 appearances in 1992-1993.
In 1993-1994 Small played 12 times for Villa including two against Deportivo de Louisiana Coruña in the Union of European Football Associations Champions League. In the 1994-1995 season he played five matches for Villa and had a loan spell at second city rivals Birmingham City where he played three times.
Small was unable to force his way into the team in the Premier League and spent time out on loan at Luton Town, Bradford City and Bury. At Bury he scored his only goal of his career against Sunderland.
In the summer 1998 Small moved to Stoke City where he made 43 appearances in 1998-1999 as Stoke failed to claim a play-off place.
In 1999–2000 he nine appearances before being released in the summer of 2000. Following his release from Stoke Small had unsuccessful trials at Carlisle United and Brentford. Another free transfer followed to Walsall but he failed to make the first team
After a loan spell at Forest Green Rovers he moved to Kettering Town before he finished his career at Hednesford Town.
Small began his coaching career with Stourport Swifts and in July 2008 turned out for old club Bolton in the Masters Tournament.