Björn Bryan Hardley (born 19 December 2002) is a Dutch 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 lea ...

who plays as a defender for

Austrian Bundesliga The Bundesliga ( , "Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Austria and the highest level of the Austrian football league system. The competition decides the A ...

club

TSV Hartberg TSV Hartberg, currently known as TSV Egger Glas Hartberg for sponsorship reasons, is an association football club based in Hartberg, Styria, Austria. Founded in 1946, the club competes in the Austrian Football Bundesliga, the top tier of the Aust ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Tilburg Tilburg () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. With a population of 22 ...

, Hardley started his career with local sides SV Advendo and RKVV DIA, before joining

NAC Breda NAC Breda (), often simply known as NAC, is a Dutch professional football club, based in Breda, Netherlands. NAC Breda play in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, named after their most important player, Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. They play in the Eredivisi ...

in 2014. While at NAC, Hardley's performances caught the eye of

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

scout Rene Moonen, who invited four other United scouts to watch Hardley in action.

Manchester United

After impressing scouts, Hardley signed a three-year contract with Manchester United in 2019. He progressed through the ranks at United, establishing himself in the under-18 squad before moving to the under-23 side. He made three appearances in the

2021–22 EFL Trophy The 2021–22 EFL Trophy, known as the Papa Johns Trophy for sponsorship reasons, the 41st season in the history of the competition, was a knock-out tournament for clubs in EFL League One and League Two, the third and fourth tiers of the English ...

, scoring once in a 3–2 defeat to Lincoln City. Having trained with the first team since November 2021, Hardley was added to Manchester United's Champions League squad in early December.

Utrecht

On 20 July 2023, Hardley's departure from Manchester United was confirmed by the club as he had joined with Dutch club

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

. He was the second player from Manchester United to join the club in the summer transfer window, following Zidane Iqbal. He was moved to the club's reserve team, Jong Utrecht, for the 2023–24 season. His debut came on 21 August 2023, coming on as a substitute in the 90th minute, in a 1–0 victory over

FC Groningen Football Club Groningen () is a Dutch professional association football club based in Groningen, Groningen (province), Groningen province. Founded in 1971 as the successor of GVAV-Rapiditas, GVAV, Groningen compete in the Eredivisie, the first t ...

. His first start for the club came a month later on 22 September, in a 3–2 victory over Cambuur.

TSV Hartberg

On 5 September 2024, Hardley signed for

club

on a two-year contract.

International career

Hardley is eligible to represent the Netherlands and Suriname.

Career statistics

Club

References

2002 births Living people Footballers from Tilburg Dutch men's footballers Dutch sportspeople of Surinamese descent Men's association football defenders NAC Breda players Manchester United F.C. players FC Utrecht players TSV Hartberg players Eerste Divisie players Dutch expatriate men's footballers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Austria Expatriate men's footballers in Austria 21st-century Dutch sportsmen {{Netherlands-footy-defender-stub