Joe Hardy (footballer)

Joseph Keith Hardy (born 26 September 1998) is an English professional footballer who plays for Northern Premier League Division One West club Bootle as a forward.

Joe Hardy
Personal information
Full name Joseph Keith Hardy[1]
Date of birth (1998-09-26) 26 September 1998
Place of birth Wirral, England[2]
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[3]
Position(s) Forward, right winger
Team information
Current team
 Bootle
Youth career
0000–2012 Tranmere Rovers
2012–2017 Manchester City
2016 → Stoke City (loan)
2017–2020 Brentford
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020–2021 Liverpool 0 (0)
2021–2023 Accrington Stanley 0 (0)
2022 → Inverness Caledonian Thistle (loan) 12 (1)
2023 → Marine (loan) 8 (4)
2023– Bootle 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12:12, 29 August 2023 (UTC)

Hardy is a graduate of the Manchester City academy and began his professional career with the U23 teams at Brentford and Liverpool. He transferred to Accrington Stanley in 2021, but failed to make an appearance for the club. Following his release in 2023, Hardy dropped into non-League football.

Career

Manchester City

A forward or right winger, Hardy began his career with Tranmere Rovers at age eight and moved to the academy at Premier League club Manchester City at the age of 13.[4][5] He progressed through the ranks and made his U18 team debut while still an U16 and signed a two-year scholarship deal at the end of the 2014–15 season.[6] Hardy scored 11 goals in 20 U18 appearances during the 2015–16 season and had a spell on loan at the Stoke City academy.[7][8] He showed prolific form during the 2016–17 season,[7] scoring 12 goals in 11 starts, before departing the Etihad Campus in March 2017.[9]

Brentford

On 14 March 2017, Hardy joined the B team at Championship club Brentford on a three-year contract.[9] Over the course of the following 2+1⁄2 years, he scored 40 goals in 80 appearances and was voted the 2018–19 Brentford B Players' Player of the Year.[10][11] Hardy gave a man of the match performance and scored two goals in Brentford B's 4–0 2019 Middlesex Senior Cup Final victory over Harrow Borough on 16 April 2019.[12] He was frozen out of the B team during the first half of the 2019–20 season and departed the club in January 2020.[10]

Liverpool

After an attempt to sign him during the 2019 summer transfer window had failed,[5] Hardy transferred to the U23 team at Premier League club Liverpool in January 2020.[10] He signed a contract running until the end of the 2019–20 season for an undisclosed fee.[10][13] On 4 February, Hardy made his professional debut as a substitute for Liam Millar after 82 minutes of a 1–0 FA Cup fourth round replay win over Shrewsbury Town.[14]

Hardy signed a one-year contract extension in June 2020,[15] but missed the 2020–21 pre-season through injury.[16] After returning to fitness,[17] he was included in Liverpool's 25-man 2020–21 Premier League squad as a home grown player,[18] though he did not win a call into a matchday squad during the season.[19] After making five appearances and scoring one goal for the U23 and EFL Trophy squads, Hardy was sidelined for 2+1⁄2 months with an ankle ligament injury sustained during a Premier League 2 match versus Southampton U23 on 21 November 2020.[19][20] He finished the 2020–21 U23 season with 6 goals in 12 appearances and was released when his contract expired.[19][21]

Accrington Stanley

On 8 July 2021, Hardy signed a two-year contract with League One club Accrington Stanley on a free transfer.[22] He suffered a calf injury in pre-season, which required surgery and he returned to full training in late November.[23][24] On 27 January 2022, Hardy joined Scottish Championship club Inverness Caledonian Thistle on loan until the end of the 2021–22 season.[25] In a season which concluded with defeat in the Scottish Premiership playoff Final,[26] Hardy made 18 appearances and scored his first senior goal, in a 4–0 win over Hamilton Academical on 29 April 2022.[27]

Hardy was again absent from the matchday squad throughout the 2022–23 season and on 17 March 2023,[19] he joined Northern Premier League Premier Division club Marine on loan until the end of the campaign.[28] He scored four goals in eight appearances and was a part of the Liverpool Senior Cup-winning squad.[29][30] Hardy was released when his contract expired.[31] He failed to win a call into a matchday squad during his two seasons at the Crown Ground.[19]

Non-League football

Hardy began the 2023–24 season with Northern Premier League First Division West club Bootle.[32]

Personal life

Hardy attended St Winefride's Catholic Primary School in Neston and St. Anselm's College in Birkenhead.[5][33]

Career statistics
As of match played 28 August 2023
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] League cup[lower-alpha 2] Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals Apps GoalsAppsGoals
Liverpool 2019–20[14] Premier League 0010—0 0 —10
Liverpool U21 2020–21[34] — 1[lower-alpha 3] 0 1 0
Inverness Caledonian Thistle (loan) 2021–22[27] Scottish Championship 12 1 — — — 6[lower-alpha 4] 0 18 1
Marine (loan) 2022–23[29] Northern Premier League Premier Division 8 4 — — — 1[lower-alpha 5] 0 9 4
Bootle 2023–24[32] Northern Premier League First Division West 4 0 0 0 — — 0 0 4 0
Total 245100000 8 0335
  1. Includes FA Cup
  2. Includes EFL Cup
  3. Appearance in EFL Trophy
  4. Appearances in Scottish Premiership play-offs
  5. Appearance in Liverpool Senior Cup

Honours

Brentford B

Marine

Individual

References
  1. "Club list of registered players: As at 19th May 2018: Brentford" (PDF). English Football League. p. 8. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  2. "Joe Hardy". Liverpool F.C. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  3. "Brentford B – Forward – Joe Hardy". www.brentfordfc.com. Archived from the original on 12 July 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  4. "'It was amazing to sign for Liverpool – it is perfect for me'". Liverpool FC. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  5. Scragg, Steven (3 February 2020). "Liverpool starlet Joe Hardy talks the academy, Klopp's chances and his path to Anfield". These Football Times. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  6. "Manchester City U18s Joe Hardy profile". Archived from the original on 14 March 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  7. "EDS Stats – Manchester City, Man City". Bluemoon-MCFC. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  8. "Joe Hardy – MCFC Players – Manchester City, Man City History". Bluemoon-MCFC. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  9. "Brentford sign Manchester City forward Joe Hardy". Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  10. "Brentford B forward Joe Hardy departs for Liverpool". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  11. "Maupay takes the honours at Player of the Year Dinner". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  12. "Harrow Borough 0 Brentford B 4". www.brentfordfc.com. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  13. Doyle, Ian (16 June 2020). "Liverpool striker puts pen to paper on new Anfield contract". liverpoolecho. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  14. "Games played by Joe Hardy in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  15. "Joe Hardy signs new contract with Liverpool FC". Liverpool FC. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  16. "Paul Glatzel and Joe Hardy fitness update". Liverpool FC. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  17. "Match report: Liverpool U23s suffer narrow loss at Brighton". Liverpool FC. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  18. "2020/21 Premier League squads confirmed". www.premierleague.com. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  19. Joe Hardy at Soccerway. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  20. "Paul Glatzel and Joe Hardy injury update". Liverpool FC. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  21. "Reds confirm Premier League retained list". Liverpool FC. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  22. "Signing: Hardy signs a two-year deal with the Reds". www.accringtonstanley.co.uk. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  23. "Accrington waiting on John O'Sullivan ahead of Cambridge clash". The League Paper. 13 August 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  24. "Interview: Coley boosted by Colby return". www.accringtonstanley.co.uk. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  25. "Joe Hardy signs for ICTFC on loan". ICTFC. 27 January 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  26. "Saints 'have work to do' after securing survival". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  27. "Games played by Joe Hardy in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  28. "Joe Hardy". marinefc.com. 17 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  29. "Marine | Appearances | Joseph Hardy | 2022–2023". Football Web Pages. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  30. "Marine 0–0 Runcorn Linnets (4–3 Pens) – Match Report". 19 April 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  31. "Update: Retained list". Accrington Stanley. 20 May 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
  32. "Bootle | Appearances | Joseph Hardy". Football Web Pages. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  33. "Joe Hardy recently signed for Liverpool". www.st-anselms.com. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  34. "Games played by Joe Hardy in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
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