Lewis James Hardcastle (born 4 July 1998) is an English

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

and former

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 played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. Having been with

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

since the age of six, he turned professional at the club in December 2015 after impressing on

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

at Salford City. He

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

ed the Blackburn Rovers U23 team to the Premier League 2 Division 2 title during the 2017–18 season. He joined

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

on loan for the first half of the 2018–19 season and signed permanently with Barrow in February 2019 following a loan spell. He helped Barrow to win

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

into the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

as champions of the

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 ...

in the 2019–20 season. Hardcastle retired from football in March 2021, aged 22, after being diagnosed with a heart condition. He was appointed manager of Daisy Hill in February 2022.

Club career

Blackburn Rovers

Hardcastle joined the

Academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

at the age of six. He played 12 games for the under-18 team during the 2013–14 season. He appeared for the under-21 team in the second leg of the Under-21 Premier League Cup final defeat to

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

St Mary's Stadium St Mary's Stadium is a seated but also safe-standing football stadium in Southampton, Hampshire, England, which has been the home stadium of club Southampton since 2001. The stadium has a capacity of 32,384 and is currently the largest footbal ...

on 20 April 2015, coming on as a 57th-minute substitute for David Carson in what ended as a 2–1 defeat after

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

. He scored two goals in 22 appearances for the under-18's during the 2014–15 season. On 24 September 2015, Hardcastle joined

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

Premier Division side Salford City on a one-month loan deal. The 17-year-old's loan deal was later extended to three months, after which time co-manager Anthony Johnson said that "we're devastated to be losing him because he's been an integral part of what we've done". He helped the "Ammies" to reach the second round of the

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 ...

, eliminating

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

in the first round with a 2–0 win at

Moor Lane Moor Lane, currently known as the Peninsula Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in the area of Kersal, Salford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the current home ground of Salford City Football Club since its opening in 19 ...

. He signed his first professional

contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

with Rovers whilst at Salford, after manager

Paul Lambert Paul Lambert (born 7 August 1969) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Ipswich Town. Lambert played as a midfielder and won the Scottish Cup in 1987 with St Mirren as a 17-year-o ...

gave him a -year contract. He returned to playing for the "Riversiders"

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

and scored the only goal of the game against

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

in the quarter-finals of 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. It ...

. He scored three goals in 26 youth team appearances during the 2015–16 season and scored two goals in 33 youth-team appearances during the 2016–17 season, including three appearances in the

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 ...

. In November 2017 he signed a new contract to keep him at

Ewood Park Ewood Park () is a Association football, football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the English Football League, Football League and Premier League, who have played there since ...

until the summer of 2019. He went on to

the under-23 team to the Premier League 2 Division 2 title at the end of the 2017–18 season. On 30 August 2018, Hardcastle joined

EFL League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English ...

side

on loan for the rest of the 2018–19 season. He said that "the gaffer (

Tony Mowbray Anthony Mark Mowbray (born 22 November 1963) is an English football manager and former footballer who was most recently the manager of EFL Championship club West Bromwich Albion. Mowbray played for Middlesbrough, Celtic and Ipswich Town as a d ...

) said to me I needed to go out and play games in men's football, come back strong and fit and you never know" and that he was "excited about the challenge" in playing in the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

. He made his first-team debut two days later after starting in a 2–1 defeat to Newport County at

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in the area of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, and it has been the home ground of Port Vale Football Club since its opening in 1950. It has a current capacity of 15,695, and was renovated durin ...

. However, he made only five starts and four substitute appearances for

Neil Aspin Neil Aspin (born 12 April 1965) is an English association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player. A defender who could play at centre-back and right-back, he was a Marking (association football), marker an ...

's "Valiants" before he was recalled to Blackburn on 7 January.

Barrow

On 8 February 2019, he joined

side Barrow on an initial one-month youth loan. The deal was made into a permanent move on 28 March after he impressed "Bluebirds" boss

Ian Evatt Ian Ross Evatt (born 19 November 1981) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Bolton Wanderers. Evatt began his career as a central midfielder, but was later converted to a central def ...

with his dynamism and bravery in midfield; he signed a contract to run until summer 2020. He scored three goals in 41 appearances in the 2019–20 season, which was permanently suspended on 26 March due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in England The COVID-19 pandemic was first confirmed to have spread to England with two cases among Chinese nationals staying in a hotel in York on 31 January 2020. The two main public bodies responsible for health in England were NHS England and Public ...

, with Barrow top of the table. Though the season was not resumed, Barrow went on to be promoted to the Football League as National League champions. On 24 March 2021, Hardcastle announced his retirement from football at the age of 22 after being diagnosed with a heart problem (

arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) is an inherited heart disease. ACM is caused by genetic defects of parts of the cardiac muscle known as desmosomes, areas on the surface of muscle cells which link them together. The desmosomes are composed o ...

). An

Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator An implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) or automated implantable cardioverter defibrillator (AICD) is a device implantable inside the body, able to perform defibrillation, and depending on the type, cardioversion and pacing of the h ...

was fitted to his heart to keep him alive.

International career

Hardcastle was called up to

England C The England national football C team (previously known as the England National Game XI and the England Semi-Pro national team) are the football teams that represent England at non-League level. Formed in 1979 as the England Non-League team, it f ...

team for their friendly fixture against

Wales C The Wales 'C' National Team is a football team that represents the Football Association of Wales governed Welsh football league system. The team is selected using players that play in the Cymru Premier, the highest level of Welsh football. Home ...

on 24 March 2020. The match was cancelled due to the

Style of play

Hardcastle played as a box-to-box

Coaching career

In February 2022, Hardcastle was announced to be the new

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

of NWCFL Division One North club Daisy Hill.

Career statistics

Honours

Blackburn Rovers U23 * Premier League Cup runner-up:

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

* Premier League 2 Division 2: 2017–18 Barrow *

: 2019–20

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardcastle, Lewis 1998 births Living people Footballers from Bolton English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Salford City F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Northern Premier League players English Football League players National League (English football) players English football managers Daisy Hill F.C. managers 21st-century English sportsmen