John David Hardiker (born 7 July 1982) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

. Hardiker was a product of the academy system at

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

where he made his first full appearance at the age of 16. He moved in 2002 for a fee of £150,000 to

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional association football, football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they wer ...

where he famously scored two goals in a historic victory over Manchester City. After making over 100 appearances for Stockport he moved to

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

before returning to Morecambe. Hardiker was then released by Morecambe and spent some time at

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...

before being snapped up by

Jim Harvey James Harvey (born 2 May 1958) is a Northern Irish football manager and former player. Playing career As a player, Harvey began his career at Glenavon in his hometown of Lurgan, before joining Arsenal in 1977. He made only three Football L ...

by signing a contract at

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

. He had a turbulent 2008–09 season with Forest Green. He was appointed club captain until being sidelined for 4 months with injury, after which he made a dramatic return scoring twice in a 3–0 win over Northwich. Shortly after this, in late February 2009 he was suspended by the club over a non-club related matter. In March 2009 Hardiker resigned from his contract with Forest Green following his suspension. On 19 March 2009 it was announced that Hardiker has signed a contract with

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

side

Stalybridge Celtic Stalybridge Celtic Football Club is an English football club based in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester. They are currently members of the and play at Bower Fold. The team traditionally plays in a blue and white strip. In 1921 Stalybridge Celtic ...

. In late 2010 he joined

Droylsden Droylsden is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, east of Manchester city centre and west of Ashton-under-Lyne, with a population at the 2011 Census of 22,689. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, in the ...

after the two teams agreed an undisclosed fee. In January 2012, Hardiker left Droylsden and signed for Radcliffe Borough. In May 2012 he signed for

Northwich Victoria {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

. He left Northwich in December 2012 however and he joined Warrington Town. Because of postponements over the 2012 festive period, Hardiker failed to make a single appearance for Warrington and left the club to sign for Connah's Quay Nomads in January 2013. He left the Welsh club at the end of the season and in August 2013 joined

Ashton United Ashton United Football Club is a football club in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England. They are currently members of and play at Hurst Cross. History The club was founded in 1878 as Hurst Football Club and the earliest known match ...

. After a season at Ashton, he moved to

Lancaster City Lancaster City Football Club is an English semi-professional non-League football club based in the northern city of Lancaster, Lancashire. They currently compete in and play at Giant Axe. They are full members of the Lancashire County Footb ...

in June 2014. In October 2018 he signed for Scottish Junior football club Newburgh Juniors.Trio added at East Shore Park as Newburgh freshen up
Fife Today, 11 October 2018

Notes and references

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hardiker, John 1982 births Living people Footballers from Preston, Lancashire English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Morecambe F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Bury F.C. players Fleetwood Town F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players Stalybridge Celtic F.C. players Droylsden F.C. players Radcliffe F.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. players Warrington Town F.C. players Connah's Quay Nomads F.C. players Ashton United F.C. players Lancaster City F.C. players Northern Premier League players National League (English football) players English Football League players