Ryan Harding (born 27 April 1984 in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

) is a Scottish semi-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 plays for Civil Service Strollers as a defender. Over the course of his career he played for

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Greeno ...

and

East Stirlingshire East Stirlingshire Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish association football club based in the town of Falkirk. The club was founded in 1881 and competes in the , in the fifth tier of the Scottish football league system. The club's origins ca ...

before leaving for

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. On his return he played for

Alloa Alloa (Received Pronunciation ; educated Scottish pronunciation /ˈaloʊa/; gd, Alamhagh, possibly meaning "rock plain") is a town in Clackmannanshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is on the north bank of the Forth at the spot where ...

and

Peterhead Peterhead (; gd, Ceann Phàdraig, sco, Peterheid ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is Aberdeenshire's biggest settlement (the city of Aberdeen itself not being a part of the district), with a population of 18,537 at the 2011 Census. ...

, before joining Civil Service Strollers in 2013.

Playing career

Harding began his senior career with

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

club Hibernian. From there he moved into another SPL side,

. Ryan made just three league appearances and one other appearance in the C.I.S. Insurance Cup for Livingston. This appearance was against his future club

. During a match played in terrible weather conditions at

Almondvale Stadium Almondvale Stadium, also known as the Tony Macaroni Arena for sponsorship purposes, but most commonly referred to as ‘The Spaghettihad’ (alluding to the Etihad Stadium), is a football stadium, located in the Almondvale area of Livingston, We ...

, he scored a diving header in to his own net that was strangely ruled out for offside. Ryan signed on at

Cappielow Cappielow, also known as Cappielow Park supported by Dalrada Technology UK for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Greenock, Inverclyde, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Greenock Morton, w ...

towards the end of the 2004–05 season on a short-term deal. He signed a longer deal at the start of the next season and continued to play for the club. He plays in the

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

position and formed partnership with fellow centre back Stewart Greacen, although was sidelined by the arrival of

Dominic Shimmin Dominic Edward Shimmin (born 13 October 1987, in Bermondsey) is an English former footballer. In his career, he has also played for Arsenal, Queens Park Rangers, AFC Bournemouth and Crawley Town. Shimmin mainly plays as a centre half. Career ...

for season 2007–08. Harding suffered a serious injury in October 2008, and missed the rest of the season due to it. He was released in November 2009. Harding signed for

on amateur forms on 3 December 2009 but was released at the end of the season. Harding left Scotland to sign for

Maltese Maltese may refer to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to Malta * Maltese alphabet * Maltese cuisine * Maltese culture * Maltese language, the Semitic language spoken by Maltese people * Maltese people, people from Malta or of Malte ...

side

Birkirkara Birkirkara (abbreviated as B'Kara) is a city in the central region of Malta. It is the second most populous on the island, with 24,356 inhabitants as of 2020. The town consists of five autonomous parishes: Saint Helen, Saint Joseph the Worker, Ou ...

on 31 August 2010, making his début against

Sliema Wanderers Sliema Wanderers Football Club, nicknamed "tax-Xelin" ( of the shilling), is a professional Maltese football club. It is the most successful team in Malta and hails from the seaside town of Sliema. It currently plays in the Maltese Premier Leag ...

on 13 September 2010, but retired through injury early in 2011. Despite this, he returned to Scotland to sign for

Alloa Athletic Alloa Athletic Football Club is a Scottish association football semi-professional club based in the town of Alloa Alloa (Received Pronunciation ; educated Scottish pronunciation /ˈaloʊa/; gd, Alamhagh, possibly meaning "rock plain") is a ...

in June 2011. In September 2012, Harding went on loan to

to cover their defensive injury crisis. It was the third time he had played under Jim McIntyre. He left Alloa in 2013 and signed with Civil Service Strollers.

Honours

;Greenock Morton *

Scottish Football League Second Division The Scottish Football League Second Division was the third tier of the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The Second Division was created in 1975, as part of a wider reconstruction of the Scottish Football League (SF ...

: 1 :: 2006–07 ;Alloa Athletic *

Scottish Football League Third Division The Scottish Football League Third Division was the fourth tier of the Scottish football league system between 1994 and 2013. History The Scottish football league system had operated with three divisions in the Scottish Football League (SFL) fro ...

: 1 :: 2011–12

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harding, Ryan 1984 births Scottish footballers Scottish expatriate footballers Footballers from Edinburgh Living people Greenock Morton F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players Livingston F.C. players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Football League players Association football defenders East Stirlingshire F.C. players Birkirkara F.C. players Expatriate footballers in Malta Alloa Athletic F.C. players Peterhead F.C. players Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale F.C. players People educated at Forrester High School Civil Service Strollers F.C players