Mitch Peter Harding (born 27 January 1994) 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 ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Bristol Rovers and Gloucester City during his short career.

Career

Harding was born in Weston-super-Mare,

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. Mitch was selected to play for North Somerset Football Development and developed very quickly in his early years leading North Somerset to forward him to Bristol Rovers as an under-13 and was signed. He progressed through the youth team of Bristol Rovers and signed a two-year scholarship terms in the summer of 2010. He signed his first professional contract in May 2012, after being voted youth team player of the year. He made his first team debut on 5 May 2012, in a 4–0 defeat to

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Often known simply as Dag ...

, coming on as a second-half substitute for

Eliot Richards Eliot Allen Richards (born 10 September 1991) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Cymru Premier club Pontypridd United. Club career Bristol Rovers A product of the Rovers youth system, Richards joined the professi ...

. Harding, along with teammate

Jordan Goddard Jordan Calum Goddard (born 9 September 1993) is an English footballer who plays for side Bromsgrove Sporting, where he plays as a midfielder. Playing career Bristol Rovers Although still an apprentice and an under-18 squad member, he made his ...

, joined Gloucester City on an initial month's loan in October 2012. and went on to score less than a minute into his debut, a 5–1 victory over

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, just west of the M11 motorway on the county boundary with Essex, north-east of central London, and by rail from Liverpool Street station. Stortford had an estimated po ...

. Harding's loan was extended for a second month but returned early. He went on to feature five times for Bristol Rovers, all as a substitute, in the remainder of the season. Harding made his starting 11 debut for Bristol Rovers on the first day of the following season in a 2–1 defeat away to Exeter City. He went on to feature in a further 12 league and cup fixtures, four of them as part of the starting lineup. Harding, along with 11 other players, was released at the end of the season.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harding, Mitch 1994 births Living people Sportspeople from Weston-super-Mare English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Bristol Rovers F.C. players Gloucester City A.F.C. players English Football League players Footballers from Somerset