Born in December 1990, he signed his professional contract at Championship team Middlesbrough and made his debut for the Teesiders in October 2010 in a 1-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest.
The midfielder made 72 appearances for Boro across all competitions before making a loan move to League One Rotherham United in January 2014. He made 18 appearances in the third tier, helping them progress to the playoff final, where he played the entire match against Leyton Orient before netting the winning penalty to help the Millers to promotion. Smallwood signed permanently for Rotherham after his loan spell and won the Player of the Season award, having made 41 appearances, netting once.
The midfielder played 133 times for Rotherham across all competitions and had a loan spell at Scunthorpe United during his time at the club before moving to Blackburn Rovers in June 2017. He was an ever-present for the Riversiders and played all 46 matches as they were promoted back to the Championship at the first attempt.
After 87 games for Blackburn, Smallwood was on the move again, this time transferring to Hull City. Named as their captain for the 2020/21 term, he added another League One promotion to his resume, with the midfilder playing 27 times in Hull’s title winning campaign.
Smallwood played 42 times for Hull in the Championship the following campaign before departing at the end of his contract, joining Sky Bet League Two team Bradford City. He only missed six league fixtures in his three campaigns at the club, with his final campaign finishing in a promotion to the third tier after a third-place finish with the Bantams.
Smallwood moved to Tranmere in July 2025 and has played 32 times across all competitions, with 26 of those coming in Sky Bet League Two.
Everyone at Bristol Rovers would like to welcome Richie to the Club and wish him well at the Gas.
