Harry Smith has revealed how close he came to signing for Aberdeen.

The big Folkestone striker, who's being monitored by Millwall and Gillingham among others, trialled with the Scottish Premiership club towards the end of last season.

Smith felt things had gone well but no deal materialised.

He said: "I’m not quite sure what happened at Aberdeen. One minute it seemed like it was happening and the next, it was off.

"I had a meeting with the manager up there, Derek McInnes and he felt Aberdeen could help me develop but he couldn’t offer me a deal until they’d spoken to Folkestone.

"The day I was flying home, I had a call from the chief scout asking if I’d be interested in staying or if I felt like it wasn’t for me.

"He said the next stage for them was to speak to Folkestone about the money situation. What I got from them is they were interested and things were starting to move.

"On the Saturday, I got the call saying the deal was off. It was a tough one to take. It took me a few days to get over it but it’s just one of those things in football."

He added: "I’ve always had aspirations to play as high as I can but as I’ve got older, I’ve put football on the back burner and focused on work. I’m a welder.

"Never, in the back of my mind, did I think about potentially moving to a professional club but now this has come along. It’s exciting and strange as well, something I’m not used to but it’s all good."

Read the full story in the Folkestone & Hythe Experss.