Joe Hardy (footballer)

Joseph Keith Hardy (born 26 September 1998) is an English professional footballer who plays for Inverness Caledonian Thistle, on loan from Accrington Stanley, as a forward. He is a product of the Manchester City academy and began his professional career with Brentford and Liverpool.

Joe Hardy
Personal information
Full name Joseph Keith Hardy[1]
Date of birth (1998-09-26) 26 September 1998
Place of birth Nottingham, England[2]
Height 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in)[3]
Position(s) Forward, right winger
Club information
Current team
 Inverness Caledonian Thistle
(on loan from Accrington Stanley)
Number 20
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– Accrington Stanley 0 (0)
2022– → Inverness Caledonian Thistle (loan) 12 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:11, 29 April 2022 (UTC)

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 coming on as a substitute after 82 minutes of a 1–0 FA Cup fourth round replay win over Shrewsbury Town.[14] Hardy scored 7 goals in 6 starts before the season finished early due to Covid-19. He signed a one-year contract extension in June 2020,[15] but missed the 2020–21 pre-season with a foot injury.[16] After returning to fitness,[17] Hardy 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, he 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] After returning to fitness Hardy finished the 2020–21 U23 season with 6 goals in 5 starts 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 foot injury in pre-season, which required surgery and he returned to full training in December.[23][24] In January 2022, Hardy departed the club on loan until the end of the 2021–22 season.[25]

Inverness Caledonian Thistle (loan)

On 27 January 2022, Hardy joined Scottish Championship club Inverness Caledonian Thistle club on loan until the end of the 2021–22 season.[25] He scored the first senior goal of his career, in a 4–0 win over Hamilton Academical on 29 April 2022.[26]

Personal life

Hardy attended St Winefride's Catholic Primary School in Neston, St. Anselm's College in Birkenhead and St Bede’s College, Manchester. [5][27]

Career statistics
As of match played 29 April 2022
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals Apps GoalsAppsGoals
Liverpool 2019–20[14] Premier League 0010—0 0 —10
Liverpool U21 2020–21[28] — — — — 1[lower-alpha 1] 0 1 0
Accrington Stanley 2021–22[26] League One 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0 0 0
Inverness Caledonian Thistle (loan) 2021–22[26] Scottish Championship 12 1 — — — — 12 1
Total 121100000 1 0141
  1. Appearance in EFL Trophy

Honours

Brentford B

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 FC. 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. 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.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  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.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  25. "Joe Hardy signs for ICTFC on loan". ICTFC. 27 January 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  26. "Games played by Joe Hardy in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  27. "Joe Hardy recently signed for Liverpool". www.st-anselms.com. Retrieved 15 July 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  28. "Games played by Joe Hardy in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
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