PLAYER PROFILE

Phil Bardsley

Position: Defence

Height: 5'11

Weight: 11st 8lbs

Date of Birth: 1985-06-28 Salford, England

Phil Bardsley

Salford-born United fan Phil Bardsley started his three-year scholarship in July 2001. A solid defender, he played at centre-back for the Under-17s and FA Youth Cup team in his first season.

His first taste of the real thing came in December 2003 when he was picked for Manchester United's Carling Cup clash with West Brom, and he played the full 90 minutes at right back, with Sir Alex Ferguson describing his performance as "outstanding", even though they lost 2-0.

Bardsley made another brief appearance in January 2004 in an FA Cup game at Northampton, but was then sent out on loan to Royal Antwerp for the rest of the season for more experience.

A quiet 2004/05 season saw Bardsley play no games for the senior squad, but he found himself used more the following campaign due to an injury to Gary Neville, and the tough young full-back showed no signs of nerves, putting in consistently impressive performances. In March 2006 he joined Burnley on loan for the rest of the season to gain more first team experience.

He played in pre-season for Manchester United, but in August 2006 moved on loan to Rangers until the end of the year. Unfortunately, after a training ground bust-up with Paul Le Guen, his time at Ibrox was mostly unfruitful and he returned to Manchester United in late December.

In January 2007 he moved on loan to Aston Villa until the end of the season. He made 20 appearances for Martin O'Neill's club and scored once. In 2007/08 he spent time on loan at Sheffield United before leaving Old Trafford permanently in January 2008 to join Sunderland.