Harry James Cardwell (born 28 October 1996) is a 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

centre-forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

for club

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Formed in October 188 ...

. He is considered strong, skilful and with a good turn of pace and excellent movement in leading the line. At the age of 10, Cardwell started his career with

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

. He was then snapped up, aged 16, for £75,000 by

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

in 2013, joining as part of their academy setup. Two one-month loan spells followed, at

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

sides

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...

in 2015 and

Braintree Town Braintree Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Braintree, Essex, England. They are currently members of and play at Cressing Road. History The club was formed on 24 September 1898 as Manor Works, the works team of the ...

in 2016. After being released by Reading, Cardwell went on trial with League Two side

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

and signed a contract in July 2017 before moves to

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth ca ...

and Southend. He is a former Scotland U21

Club career

Cardwell was born in

Beverley Beverley is a market town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is located north-west of Hull city centre. At the 2021 census the built-up area of the town had a population of 30,930, and the smaller civil parish had ...

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...

and raised in the village of

North Cave North Cave is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated to the west of Hull city centre on the B1230 road. South Cave is approximately to the south-east. The civil parish is formed by the village of ...

. He attended

South Hunsley School South Hunsley School & Sixth Form College is a large secondary school and sixth form, situated in Melton in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, near the A63. In April 2010, the school became an Academy. Overview The school was founded as S ...

Melton, East Riding of Yorkshire Melton is a village in the civil parish of Welton, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated about west of Kingston upon Hull city centre near to the Humber Estuary and about east of the village of Welton, with which it is nearly con ...

and started his career with

where he spent seven years in their

Reading

Cardwell signed for

in July 2013, joining their academy, a compensation fee of £75,000 agreed under the

Elite Player Performance Plan The Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) is a youth development scheme initiated by the Premier League. The intention of the EPPP is to improve the quality and quantity of home-grown players produced by top English clubs. Measures introduced by t ...

(EPPP). Having finished joint top scorer for the under-18s, Cardwell signed professional terms with Reading in July 2014. In January 2017, he went on loan to Championship rivals

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

in their under-23s until the end of the season. On 10 September 2015, Cardwell joined

side

on a one-month youth loan deal, to strengthen their options up front after a serious injury to

Scott Rendell Scott David Rendell (born 21 October 1986) is an English footballer who plays as a striker for AFC Totton. Career Early career Rendell was born in Ashford, Surrey, but lived in Basingstoke, Hampshire. He started his career with Staines Albi ...

. Cardwell joined National League side

in March 2016 on a one-month loan.

Grimsby Town

Cardwell joined up with League Two side

on 4 July 2017, to try and earn himself a contract. Having impressed in his trial, scoring four goals in pre season, Cardwell signed a two-year contract with the club on 17 July 2017 on a free transfer. Cardwell made his professional debut with Grimsby on 5 August 2017; coming off the subs bench on 79 minutes in their 3–1 victory at Chesterfield, he latched on to a through ball by

Luke Summerfield Luke John Summerfield (born 6 December 1987) is an English professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for club Kidderminster Harriers. He has played in the English Football League for Plymouth Argyle, AFC Bournemouth, Leyton Orie ...

, but Cardwell was brought down as he was about to shoot for goal, winning his team an 85th minute

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

, which was put away by Ben Davies to finish Chesterfield off. He scored his first goal for Grimsby in an

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

tie against

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

on 29 August 2017.

Chorley

Following his release by

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town in Lincolnshire, England with a population of 86,138 (as of 2021). It is located near the mouth on the south bank of the Humber that flows to the North Sea. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes dir ...

in June 2020, Cardwell joined National League North side,

on a permanent deal, following an earlier loan spell at the club. In December 2020, Cardwell scored his first league goal following his permanent move, a 25-yard strike in a 1–0 win against Guiseley at Victory Park. Cardwell played his role in the club's impressive

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

run as they reached the

Fourth round Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'', a 1972 Soviet drama ...

before being beaten 1–0 by

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

. He featured in all six matches in Chorley's run, scoring twice, against

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

in a 2–1 second qualifying round victory and in a 3–2 comeback victory at

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

. On 22 February 2021, Cardwell joined

side

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

on loan for the remainder of the 2020–21 season, following the early conclusion to the National League North season. He scored his first goals for the club in his third appearance with the third in a 5–0 thrashing of

Solihull Moors Solihull Moors Football Club is a professional association football club based in Solihull, England. The club currently competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, after achieving promotion from the Na ...

Southend United

On 20 January 2022, Cardwell joined

side

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

. He scored his first goal for the club - in his second appearance - in a game against

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spr ...

. In January 2024, he was linked with a move to League One side Exeter City.

International career

Cardwell is eligible to play for Scotland because two of his grandparents are from

Midlothian Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...

. He made his debut for the Scotland U19 team on 24 May 2014, coming off the bench in a 0–0 draw against Ukraine U21 at the

Pirelli Stadium Pirelli Stadium is an association football stadium on Princess Way in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. It was built in 2005 and is the current home of Burton Albion FC, replacing the club's old Eton Park home, also on Princess Way, ...

in England. He came off the bench and scored two goals in a 2–2 draw against Czech Republic U19 at

Cappielow Park Cappielow, also known as Cappielow Park supported by Dalrada Technology UK for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Greenock, Inverclyde, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Greenock Morton, w ...

. He made ten appearances for Scotland U19 between May 2014 and March 2015. Cardwell was called up on 5 November 2014 to the Scotland U21 side. He made his debut for the U21 team in a 1–1 draw against Switzerland U21 in Switzerland.

Style of play

He is a powerhouse

centre forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

, strong, skilful and with a good turn of pace and excellent movement in leading the line.

Personal life

Cardwell's grandfather Tom Wilson was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

, who played for

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

and

Career statistics

References

External links

* at the Grimsby Town F.C. website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cardwell, Harry 1996 births Living people Footballers from Beverley English men's footballers Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's youth international footballers Scotland men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football forwards Hull City A.F.C. players Reading F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Woking F.C. players Braintree Town F.C. players Chorley F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players English people of Scottish descent 21st-century English sportsmen 21st-century Scottish sportsmen