Gary Daniel Liddle (born 15 June 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a

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 ...

or midfielder for

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

side

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

. He has played in the English Football League for Hartlepool United, Notts County, Bradford City, Chesterfield,

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

and

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is t ...

. Liddle came through the ranks at

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

where he won the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. I ...

in 2004. After leaving Middlesbrough, Liddle signed for local

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Le ...

side Hartlepool United where he would play an important role in Hartlepool's promotion to League One as runners-up. He would remain at the League One side for six seasons before departing for Notts County in 2012. Liddle won several individual awards in his first season with the Magpies and would stay with Notts County for two years before subsequently signing for Bradford City, Chesterfield,

and

. He was sent on loan to former club Hartlepool United in 2019 who were now in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

. He then signed permanently for the club where he would play an integral role in central defence as Hartlepool won the 2021 National League play-off Final. He left at the end of Hartlepool's first season back in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

having made 364 appearances over three spells at the club, making him the tenth highest appearance maker in the club's history. Liddle then joined

side

Career

Middlesbrough

Liddle was born in

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by national parks, including most of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. It is one of four cou ...

. He began his career with hometown side

. He was a regular in the academy sides and won the 2003–04

. He signed a professional contract with Middlesbrough on 14 July 2003.

Hartlepool United

In August 2006, Liddle joined nearby

club Hartlepool United on a free transfer, signed by Danny Wilson. He made his debut in a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

win at

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River ...

on 22 August 2006 in central midfield. He made a big impression during his first season with Pools and performed well at right-back, centre-half and midfield. He shared the Players' Player of the Year award with Michael Nelson that year as Pools were promoted back to League One at the first attempt. He remained a mainstay in the side. In 2010, Liddle was booked in a game at Leyton Orient, which meant an instant suspension was triggered after collecting his 10th yellow card of the season. However, no-one at the club realised he had been cautioned and he played 48 hours later against Brighton & Hove Albion. Pools then recognised later he should have not appeared and informed the FA. Pools were charged with fielding an ineligible player and deducted 3 points. That meant with 1 game of the season to go, they were in a relegation battle, but a draw at

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings w ...

on the final day of the season kept them up. On 13 August 2011, while playing in a home league match against

, Liddle suffered an injury, as his

zygomatic bone In the human skull, the zygomatic bone (from grc, ζῠγόν, zugón, yoke), also called cheekbone or malar bone, is a paired irregular bone which articulates with the maxilla, the temporal bone, the sphenoid bone and the frontal bone. It is ...

became fractured in two places. He was able to complete the match, which ended in a 1–1 draw. However, he was sidelined afterwards. For his return to playing, he wore a

protective mask A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practic ...

. On 19 May 2012, it was announced that Liddle was released from Hartlepool United after six years after he rejected a new deal. He made 238 appearances for the club during his first spell with the club.

Notts County

Liddle signed for League One club Notts County on 21 June 2012 on a two-year contract. Liddle stated that it was Keith Curle's desire to manage in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

that played a big part in the switch. "Keith wants to manage in the Championship with Notts. That's why I came here. Hopefully I can help him do that". Before the start of the 2012–13 season, Liddle admitted there was a challenge to earn a first team spot. "It's the most competitive squad I've ever been in, If I get the shirt I will have to play well to keep it and if I'm not in the team I'll have to work even harder in training to get in there." He made his competitive debut for the club in a 2–1 victory over

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

, partnering

Dean Leacock Dean Leacock (born 10 June 1984) is an English professional footballer who plays for Lowestoft Town. He is primarily a centre-back, but he can also play as a right back or a defensive midfielder. Career Fulham Born in Croydon, London, Leacock ...

in the centre of defence. Liddle made a good start to his career at Notts County and was awarded the PFA Fans' Player of the Month for September, continuing to play at centre back, he ensured County remained unbeaten in that month. Liddle made his final and 46th league appearance of the season against

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed the ...

. It meant he had played every minute of the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season, equalling a record last set by County's

Pedro Richards Peter "Pedro" Richards (11 November 1956 – 23 December 2001) was an English footballer who played in defence for Notts County. The son of a Black British father and a Spanish mother, Richards was taken by his mother at an early age to Laguardi ...

30 years ago. He then won four awards at the clubs' end of season award ceremony. Including; The Manager's Player of the Year, Players' Player of the Year, Fans' Player of the Year and the Supporters' Club Player of the Year.

Bradford City

Liddle signed for Bradford City on 9 June 2014 on a one-year contract with the option of an additional year. He made his debut on 9 August 2016 in a 3–2 home win against

Chesterfield

Liddle signed for Chesterfield on 1 February 2016 for an undisclosed fee. He was named the club's captain. Liddle was sent off in his third appearance for the 'Spireites', on 16 February 2016 in an away game to

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

for an 18th minute foul. Liddle scored his first goal for the club on 13 August 2016, scoring the first in a 3–1 victory over

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

, heading into an empty net after a Ched Evans free kick was saved.

Carlisle United

Liddle signed for League Two club

on 13 January 2017 on a one-and-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee. He was released by Carlisle at the end of the 2018–19 season.

Walsall

On 26 July 2019, Liddle moved to

, signed by his former Hartlepool teammate

Darrell Clarke Darrell James Clarke (born 16 December 1977) is an English professional football manager and former player who played in the English Football League. He is the manager of club Port Vale. A box-to-box midfielder, Clarke began his career ...

. He made 16 appearances for The Saddlers, before leaving on loan for his former club Hartlepool United, in the

where he played as a central defender.

Return to Hartlepool United

Liddle re-signed for Hartlepool permanently for a second time after a successful loan spell in the previous season from

. Liddle's first appearance in his third spell at Hartlepool saw him reach the landmark of 300 appearances for Hartlepool United in a 2–1 win against Aldershot Town. Liddle played in the 2021 National League play-off Final as Hartlepool defeated

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

on penalties to earn promotion back to the Football League. Following their promotion, Liddle signed a new one-year deal with the club. On 5 March 2022, Liddle made his 700th career appearance in a 2–1 win at

Harrogate Town Harrogate Town A.F.C. is a professional association football club in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed the Sulphurites, due to the ...

. On 6 June 2022, it was announced that Liddle had decided to leave Hartlepool upon the expiration of his contract. During his three spells with Hartlepool United, Liddle made 364 appearances, making him the tenth highest appearance maker in the club's history.

South Shields

On the same day Liddle announced his departure from Hartlepool, he signed for

Career statistics

Honours

Middlesbrough *

: 2003–04 Hartlepool United *

Football League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Le ...

runner-up: 2006–07 *

play-offs:

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

Individual * Notts County Player of the Year:

* Notts County Manager's Player of the Year: 2012–13 *Notts County Players' Player of the Year: 2012–13

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Liddle, Gary 1986 births Living people Footballers from Middlesbrough English footballers Association football defenders Association football midfielders Middlesbrough F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Walsall F.C. players South Shields F.C. (1974) players English Football League players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players