Bardsley calls time on playing career
Phil Bardsley, who we initially signed on loan from Manchester United and who left us a year ago after five years as a full time Claret, has retired from playing at the age of 37 after another injury hit season at Stockport County.
Bardsley first joined Burnley in March 2006 on a loan deal from Manchester United for whom he’d played eight top flight games. He made six appearances for Burnley before a hamstring injury sustained at Hull brought his season to an end.
Manager Steve Cotterill wanted to bring him back to Burnley but it would be another eleven years and four managers later before he did return. By then he’d had loan deals from United with Rangers, Aston Villa and Sheffield United before moving on to Sunderland in 2008 where he played for six and a half seasons.
He was then transferred to Stoke for the next three seasons before Sean Dyche brought him to Burnley. Throughout his five years at the Turf, he challenged with Matt Lowton for the right-back spot and went on to make over seventy league and cup appearances.
In his final season at Burnley, he was restricted to just three cup appearances, that due to injury and the arrival of Connor Roberts from Swansea and his release last summer was inevitable.
He left with an injury but, once fit, joined Stockport in December last year making his debut in their final game of 2022 at Walsall. He was in the side at Grimsby on New Year’s Day and a week later lined up in the FA Cup, again in a fixture against Walsall.
He was replaced with twenty minutes remaining in that game with an injury and it proved to be his final game. He’d played just short of four hundred games in league and cups for his eight clubs in England and Scotland.
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