Leeds United given referee Daniel Farke publicly criticised twice last season for fixture vs Cardiff City
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The official has taken charge of five Leeds matches since the Whites were relegated back to the Championship in 2023.
Most notably, Smith was the man in the middle for Leeds' Boxing Day fixture at Preston North End last season, in which United goalkeeper Illan Meslier was shown a straight red card for violent conduct, raising his gloves to Preston striker Milutin Osmajic's face.
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Hide Ad"He gets the first knock from the first player and the second player who was nothing to do with the situation runs over and gives Illan a hard knock against his body because he just wants to provoke something," manager Daniel Farke said of the incident following the 2-1 defeat.
"Illan reacts and then the player goes down and rolls around 10 times after a little movement from Illan. The red card was just what he wanted.
"As a referee, you should sense this and not influence a game like this in this way. The Preston player's one target was to provoke a red card."
That said, Smith has also been in charge for more recent Leeds encounters, between the Whites and Hull City which saw Leeds awarded a spot kick converted by Crysencio Summerville in the 88th minute to go into a 2-1 lead over then-head coach Liam Rosenior's side.
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Hide AdSmith was also the referee for Leeds' 0-0 Championship play-off semi-final first leg draw with Norwich City earlier this summer. Daniel Farke was annoyed by the match official during that particular game having ruled out what the manager deemed a perfectly legal Junior Firpo goal for an offside committed by Georginio Rutter in the build-up.
“I’m still pretty annoyed with the offside situation,” Farke said back in May.
“Someone told me that Sky showed a picture they said was proof it was offside. I recommend everyone have a look on the scouting feed, where you have a proper line. It was not offside.
“We also have the rule that in doubt you go in favour of the offensive team, it feels like this rule is not in place any more.
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Hide Ad“Because we are playing at the top level small details make a difference. It changes the whole picture here.
“Everyone speaks about Wembley, the £100 million game, and at this level all the decisions have to be spot on," he added.
The Cambridgeshire-based official took charge of Leeds' opener against Cardiff last season as well as their 2-1 win over Plymouth Argyle at Elland Road.
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