David John Bardsley (born 11 September 1964) is an English football coach and 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 ...

. As a player, he was a defender, notably playing in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

for

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

. He also played in the Football League with Blackpool,

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

and

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...

before finishing his career with non-league side Northwich Victoria. He was capped twice by the England national team. After his retirement, he opened football schools in England and the United States and has previously worked for

Eredivise The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

side

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the l ...

as a

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

-based coach for their American affiliate team.

Club career

Bardsley started with Blackpool in 1982 and subsequently moved to

in 1983 for £150,000 where he was noted for his pace, and played every game in Watford's run to the

1984 FA Cup Final The 1984 FA Cup Final was contested by Everton and Watford at Wembley. Everton won 2–0, with one goal by Graeme Sharp and a controversial goal from Andy Gray. He was adjudged by many to have fouled the Watford goalkeeper Steve Sherwood by he ...

, where they eventually lost to Everton. He played 121 matches in all competitions for Watford, scoring nine goals. In September 1987 Bardsley transferred to

to replace David Langan for a then club record of £265,000. He played 89 games for Oxford, scoring seven goals. In 1989 Bardsley completed a £500,000 move to

QPR Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football, football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home ...

. Bardsley played in the QPR team of the early to mid-1990s that finished fifth in the Premier League in 1992–93, eighth in 1993–94 and eighth in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

. He was part of the Premier League Team of the Year for 1992–93, the inaugural season of the Premier League. After QPR's relegation from the Premier League in 1996, Bardsley suffered a potentially career-threatening Achilles tendon injury that kept him out for the best part of two seasons. He returned at the end of the 1997–98 season in the midst of a relegation battle under

Ray Harford Raymond Thomas Harford (1 June 1945 – 9 August 2003) was an English footballer, better known for his successes as a coach and manager than as a player. He is considered to have been one of the top coaches of his generation. During his playin ...

's management. In total, he played 253 games in nine seasons for QPR, scoring four goals, helping keep QPR in Division One and the Premier League. Bardsley was released on a free transfer at the end of the 1997–98 season and returned to play for his first club, Blackpool. After leaving Blackpool, he played for non-League Northwich Victoria.

International career

Bardsley's international career started at youth level, where he earned six England Youth International caps, before progressing to earn four England U21 caps. While at QPR, Bardsley was capped twice for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

by his former club manager

Graham Taylor Graham Taylor (15 September 1944 – 12 January 2017) was an English football player, manager, pundit and chairman of Watford Football Club. He was the manager of the England national football team from 1990 to 1993, and also managed Lincoln C ...

during the 1992–93 season, playing against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

in a Friendly and a World Cup Qualifier respectively.

Coaching career

After Northwich Victoria, Bardsley opened his own soccer schools. He subsequently moved to America and in March 2007

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...

reported that he was the director of

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

's academy in Florida. His schools subsequently ended their association with Ajax, but continued to coach a couple of teams until 2016.

Honours

Individual * PFA Team of the Year: 1988–89 Second Division, 1992–93 Premier League

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bardsley, David 1964 births Blackpool F.C. players Watford F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. players England men's international footballers Footballers from Manchester English footballers Living people Premier League players English Football League players England men's youth international footballers Men's association football fullbacks FA Cup final players