Dan Harding

Daniel Andrew Harding (born 23 December 1983) is an English footballer who last played as a defender for National League South club Whitehawk.

Harding joined the Brighton & Hove Albion youth scheme in 1999 aged sixteen.

After a successful run in the reserves he made his first Albion appearance as a substitute for Shaun Wilkinson in the 79th minute in a 2–0 home loss against Norwich City on 17 August 2002.

This was his only appearance in the 2002–03 season after he suffered a back injury in October.

In April 2003 Harding signed his first professional contract with the club.

After impressing in 2003–04 pre-season friendlies, Harding spent the first half of the season on the substitutes' bench with seven appearances.

Harding remained in the starting eleven for the remainder of the 2003–04 season and helped the club gain promotion to the Championship after beating Bristol City 1–0 in the play-off final in Cardiff.

Harding finished the season making twenty-three appearances.

Soon after the appointment of manager Mark McGhee, Harding was selected to make his full debut against AFC Bournemouth on 21 February 2004 following the suspension of Kerry Mayo.

The game ended in a 3–0 win for Bournemouth.

Harding was sent-off in the second match of the 2004–2005 season, a 2–0 loss to Plymouth Argyle.

After the game manager Mark McGhee defended Harding and he regained his first team place and then scored his first goal for the club, in a 1–0 win over against Rotherham United.

However, in the next game against Millwall Harding was at fault for the two goals which saw Brighton lose 2–0.

He was also dropped by McGhee after making mistakes during a match against Stoke City.

Despite this, Harding helped to keep the club in the Championship 2004–05, finishing 20th, their highest league position in 14 years.

After two seasons in which England's U21 coach Peter Taylor and a number of Premier League clubs had reportedly taken an interest in him, Harding was preparing to move on.

With his contract expiring at the end of the 2004–05 season, he expressed an interest in a new long-term deal at the club and was initially offered a new two-year contract in 2004.

Delays in resolving the negotiations led manager McGhee to publicly express unhappiness, with Harding denying he had turned down a new deal.

In February 2005, McGhee re-opened contract talks with Harding, but three months later Harding rejected the revised deal.

During his time at Brighton Harding was given the nickname Mr Tickle by his teammates because of his long legs and arms, and at one point was nominated by FourFourTwo magazine as one of the best 50 players outside the Premiership along with teammate Leon Knight.

On 7 June 2005, Harding reportedly cut short a holiday to sign a three-year-contract with Leeds United on a free transfer.

Since he was under 24 years of age, Brighton were entitled to compensation to be decided by a tribunal.

On 28 July, Leeds United were ordered to pay up to £850,000 to Brighton, with an initial payment of £450,000 and a further £400,000 dependent on appearances, international caps and promotion success.

Harding made his Leeds United debut in the opening game of the 2005–06 season in a 2–1 win over Millwall.

He played his first match against his former club on 12 September 2005 and was booed by the away Brighton supporters every time he touched the ball.

After appearing in the first seven matches of the season Harding was injured and lost his regular first team place.

He went on to make twenty appearances.

After only one season at Leeds United, Harding moved to Ipswich Town in a part-exchange deal for Ian Westlake on 4 August 2006.

Leeds also paid Ipswich £400,000 and a further £100,000 was dependent on Westlake's appearances.

Harding made his Ipswich debut in the opening game of the season in a 2–1 loss against Crystal Palace.

Harding then provided an assist for Sylvain Legwinski in a 3–1 win over Southend United on 21 October 2006.

Harding established himself as first choice left back but despite suffering from an ankle injury that kept him out for three weeks, he won two awards in the Ipswich Town Player of the Year presentations.

Harding started the 2007–08 season in the first team and scored his first goal for Ipswich in a 3–1 defeat at Hull City on 29 September 2007.

Harding also set up two goals in two games, starting with the first assist for Jonathan Walters in a 3–1 win over local rivals, Colchester United on 23 October 2007 and another assist for Danny Haynes in a 3–0 win over Wolves four days later.

After missing three matches due to the performance of Sito, Harding was recalled for the match against Leicester City following Sito's injury.

But after making one appearance Harding suffered a thigh injury that kept him out for a number of weeks.

After making his return to the first team against Plymouth Argyle, Harding regained his first team place until Sito's return that kept him out of the first team for the rest of the season.

Manager Jim Magilton announced that Harding was no longer in his plans for the 2008–2009 season and on 7 August 2008 Harding moved to Southend United on a six-month loan deal with a view to a permanent deal.

Harding began his career with Brighton & Hove Albion and has also played for Leeds United, Ipswich Town, Southend United, Reading, Southampton, Nottingham Forest and Millwall before joining Eastleigh and then Whitehawk in September 2016.

Harding is a former England under-21 player.