Bob Hardy

An England Schoolboy trialist, ‘Bob’, as he was always known, had three years’ business training before volunteering for the RAF at 18. He had an eventful war, doing essential work at Hawker Aircraft, serving in the RAF and qualifying for pilot training in the USA before going down the mines at Brodsworth Colliery. He had only three League appearances with Millwall before joining Southport where he spent much of his two seasons in the Lancashire Combination side. Switched from full-back to centre-forward, he scored a hat-trick at Bacup Borough (11 December 1948) but soon reverted to full-back. At Bournemouth, after two seasons in the Reserves, manager Jackie Bruton converted him with great success to centre-half and ultimately captain. He had spells as player-manager and player-coach in Southern, Western, and Hampshire League football, and after becoming a sales manager formed his own limited company wholesaling and distributing golf equipment based in Bournemouth. He has been troubled with arthritis and has two artificial elbows.

Profile reproduced with Permission from:
The Sandgrounders: The Complete League History of Southport F. C., by Michael Braham and Geoff Wilde (Palatine Books, 1995). ISBN 978-1-874181-14-9