| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Joseph Cardle[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1987-02-07)7 February 1987 (age 38) | ||
| Place of birth | Blackpool, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Lytham Juniors | |||
| Burnley | |||
| 2003–2005 | Port Vale | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2005–2008 | Port Vale | 22 | (0) |
| 2007 | →Clyde (loan) | 8 | (0) |
| 2008–2009 | Airdrie United | 24 | (1) |
| 2009–2013 | Dunfermline Athletic | 118 | (20) |
| 2013–2014 | Raith Rovers | 40 | (5) |
| 2014–2015 | Ross County | 22 | (0) |
| 2015–2018 | Dunfermline Athletic | 77 | (25) |
| 2018 | AFC Fylde | 17 | (2) |
| 2019–2021 | Partick Thistle | 53 | (10) |
| 2021–2023 | Kelty Hearts | 69 | (14) |
| Total | 452 | (77) | |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Joseph Cardle (born 7 February 1987) is an English former professionalfootballer who played as amidfielder.
Starting his career atPort Vale in 2005, he made occasional appearances in his three years as a senior player at the club. Following aloan spell withClyde in 2007, he signed with Scottish clubAirdrie United in 2008, winningthat year's Scottish Challenge Cup. The following year he moved on toDunfermline Athletic and helped the club to theFirst Division title in 2010–11.
Cardle switched toRaith Rovers in March 2013 after Dunfermline Athletic hit a financial crisis. He helped Raith win the Scottish Challenge Cup in2014 and won a move to top-flight clubRoss County in May 2014. He rejoined Dunfermline Athletic in July 2015 and helped the club win the League One title in 2015–16. He signed with Englishnon-League sideAFC Fylde in July 2018 and then returned to Scotland to sign forPartick Thistle in January 2019. He won another League One title with Partick Thistle in 2020–21 before joiningKelty Hearts. He was named on thePFA Scotland Team of the Year for the second time after Hearts won theScottish League Two title at the end of the 2021–22 season and left the club the following summer.
Born inBlackpool, Cardle played for Lytham Juniors in his youth alongsideJoe Anyon. Both players signed as schoolboys forBurnley. In July 2003, 16-year-old Cardle signed forLeague One clubPort Vale as an apprentice. Cardle made his senior debut on 10 September 2005 in a 2–0 defeat toScunthorpe United. He made nine appearances in the2005–06 campaign, and ten appearances in2006–07. In May 2007, he signed a one-year extension to hiscontract.[3]
In August 2007, Cardle signed onloan forScottish First Division clubClyde until Christmas.[4] He made his debut on 1 September againstDundee, but wassent off 25 minutes into the game.[5] He made ten appearances in all competitions, the final one being againstMontrose in theScottish Cup in November 2007. He was taken off with an injury and failed to recover before his loan spell ended. Back atVale Park, he played nine games in2007–08.
Cardle was released by new ValemanagerLee Sinnott in May 2008,[6] and subsequently returned to Scotland to joinAirdrie United.[7] He played for Airdrie inthe final of theScottish Challenge Cup atMcDiarmid Park, helping his new club to beatRoss County on penalties to claim their first trophy.[8] He scored his first goal for the club in a league match againstQueen of the South on 18 October 2008,[9] and his second and final goal followed in theScottish Cup againstCove Rangers the following month.[10]
Cardle was red-carded in his final match for Airdrie, againstLivingston on 7 March 2009, after an on-field incident withcaptainMarc Smyth.[11][12] Cardle later said that "Big Marc got me mixed up with another Airdrie player who had lost possession which led to their [Livingston] fourth goal... Marc's verbal onslaught mistakenly directed at me, made me lose it".[5] Cardle left theExcelsior Stadium by mutual consent four days later, having made a total of 24 appearances on the right side of midfield for the "Diamonds", scoring three goals in cup competitions along with one league goal.
In May 2009, Cardle signed with Airdrie'sFirst Division rivalsDunfermline Athletic. On 23 January 2010, Cardle scored ahat-trick in Dunfermline's 4–1 win atPartick Thistle, after coming on as asubstitute. He scored eight goals in 31 games over all competitions in the2009–10 campaign. In2010–11, he helpedJim McIntyre's "Pars" topromotion into theScottish Premier League as First Division champions.[5] He also scored pastRangers atIbrox in Dunfermline's 7–2 defeat in theLeague Cup.[13] However, Athletic wererelegated straight back out of the SPL in2011–12, despite a late managerial change in puttingJim Jefferies in charge atEast End Park.[14] He was made redundant by Dunfermline in March 2013 after the club suffered a financial crisis.[15]
On 31 March 2013, he joinedRaith Rovers until the end ofthe season, after managerGrant Murray acted quickly to beat the player registration deadline.[16] In July 2013, Cardle signed a new contract to stay atStark's Park for another year.[17] In February 2014, Cardle stated he had "fallen back in love with football" atStark's Park.[18] He played inthe final of theScottish Challenge Cup atEaster Road as Rovers beatRangers 1–0 inextra time to claim his second winners medal in the competition.[19]
Cardle signed a one-year deal withScottish Premiership clubRoss County in May 2014 as managerDerek Adams felt that he was "an out and out winger... very creative and direct which will suit our style of play."[20] He made his debut for Ross County on 10 August 2014, in a 2–1 home defeat againstSt Johnstone in the opening game of the season.[21] At the end of the2014–15 season, Cardle was released by the "Staggies".[22]
After appearing and scoring for nowLeague One sideDunfermline Athletic as atrialist againstBerwick Rangers, Cardle re-signed for his former club in July 2015.[23] On his return, Cardle's first competitive goal came in a 6–1 defeat ofBrechin City in the first league match of the season.[24] He scored a further 10 goals in 15 matches, including an important goal in the Scottish League Cup againstScottish Premiership sideDundee[25] and a hat-trick againstForfar Athletic.[26] In December 2015 however, he was sent off against title rivalsAyr United for receiving a straightred card for violent conduct, shortly after he received ayellow card for simulation.[27] However, after appealing againstreferee Andrew Dallas' decision on the basis that there was no actual contact with Ayr playerPeter Murphy, the card was rescinded.[28] He helped the "Pars" to win promotion as divisional champions in the2015–16 season.[29] He was also named on thePFA Scotland Team of the Year for League One.[30]
He scored a hat-trick in a 4–3 victory overDumbarton atEast End Park on 6 August 2016.[31] Athletic finished in fifth-place in2016–17, with Cardle claiming five goals in 21 games. Cardle was named asSPFL Championship Player of the Month in August 2017 after scoring five goals from four league games.[32] He stated that "My confidence is high just now and I'm thriving on that. It can't get any higher, when you're scoring goals and making goals every week. It's fantastic – every day of life is amazing".[33] However, soon after picking up the award he was sidelined for six weeks with ahamstring injury.[34] He ended the2017–18 campaign with ten goals in 34 appearances asAllan Johnston's Dunfermline qualified for the play-offs with a fourth-place finish, going to lose toDundee United at the quarter-final stage.[35] He left the club in June 2018.[36]
After 10 years playing in Scotland, Cardle returned to England in July 2018, signing forNational League clubAFC Fylde on a two-year deal.[37][38] He scored two goals in 17 appearances for the "Coasters", however, he left the club on 6 November; managerDave Challinor said that this was because the player was unsettled after his wife and children were unable to relocate from Scotland.[39]
On 4 January 2019, Cardle signed a deal withPartick Thistle to keep him at theFirhill Stadium until the end of the2018–19 season after training withGary Caldwell's side for some weeks.[40] Cardle said that he was surprised to see the "Jags" struggling in the Scottish Championship and went on to say "I'm an experienced player and I know the division, so I know for certain that we have enough here to drag ourselves up the table".[41] Cardle made his first appearance for Thistle in a 1–1 draw away to Dundee United, where he entered as a substitute, and scored his first goal in his third appearance; a 4–1 victory in the Scottish Cup againstStranraer.[42] He scored his first league goal the following week in a 2–1 home win againstQueen of the South.[43] After helping the "Jags" to safety with a sixth-place finish, Cardle signed a new one-year deal with the Glasgow club in May 2019.[44] He scored four goals in 32 games in the2019–20 season, which ended in relegation when the season was declared early with nine games left to play due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Scotland.[45] Cardle complained that Thistle were only two points behind Queen of the South with a game in hand, saying "the whole thing just doesn't feel right... Partick are too big a club to be relegated into League One and we believe we would have prevented it happening".[46] He was offered a new contract in the summer.[47]
Cardle signed a one-year contract extension with Thistle for the2020–21 season.[48] He scored his first and second goals season on 10 October, coming off the bench to score both goals in a 2–0 home win overQueen's Park in the League Cup group stages.[49] Partick Thistle went on to win promotion as League One champions at the first attempt, with Cardle rounding off the scoring of the title-clinching 5–0 victory overFalkirk on 29 April.[50]
On 1 June 2021, Cardle signed a two-year contract withKelty Hearts, who had just achieved promotion intoScottish League Two.[51] On 31 July, he became the first player to score for Kelty Hearts in theScottish Professional Football League, in a 2–0 win overCowdenbeath at New Central Park.[52]Kevin Thomson's Hearts won the division by a 21 points margin, with Cardle scoring 16 goals and providing 10 assists in 46 games.[53] He was named on the PFA Scotland Team of the Year for League Two at the end of the2021–22 season.[54] He made forty appearances in the2022–23 campaign, scoring two goals, as Hearts secured their third tier status with an eighth-place finish.[55] He was not retained at the end of the season.[56]
Cardle's parents were originally from Glasgow and moved to England before his birth.[57] His brother,Scott, is alightweightboxer.[58] Cardle has indicated that he would want to representScotland over his country of birth.[57] He has two daughters with his fiancée, Lucy-Anne Patterson.[59] He ownsUEFA B andA licences and set up a football academy inDunfermline in 2020.[60]
| Club | Season | Division | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Port Vale | 2005–06[61] | League One | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 2006–07[62] | League One | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2007–08[63] | League One | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | |
| Total | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 26 | 0 | ||
| Clyde (loan) | 2007–08[63] | Scottish First Division | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[b] | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| Airdrie United | 2008–09[64] | Scottish First Division | 24 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3[b] | 0 | 33 | 2 |
| Dunfermline Athletic | 2009–10[65] | Scottish First Division | 25 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2[b] | 1[b] | 31 | 8 |
| 2010–11[66] | Scottish First Division | 32 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 5 | |
| 2011–12[67] | Scottish Premier League | 36 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 8 | |
| 2012–13[68] | Scottish First Division | 25 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1[b] | 0 | 29 | 3 | |
| Total | 118 | 20 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 134 | 24 | ||
| Raith Rovers | 2012–13[68] | Scottish First Division | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 2013–14[69] | Scottish Championship | 33 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1[b] | 1[b] | 39 | 8 | |
| Total | 40 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 46 | 8 | ||
| Ross County | 2014–15[70] | Scottish Premiership | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 |
| Dunfermline Athletic | 2015–16[71] | Scottish League One | 29 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3[b] | 0 | 38 | 15 |
| 2016–17[72] | Scottish Championship | 23 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 3[b] | 0 | 32 | 5 | |
| 2017–18[73] | Scottish Championship | 25 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 2[b][c] | 0 | 34 | 10 | |
| Total | 77 | 25 | 7 | 1 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 104 | 30 | ||
| AFC Fylde | 2018–19[74] | National League | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 2 |
| Partick Thistle | 2018–19[75] | Scottish Championship | 11 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 3 |
| 2019–20[76] | Scottish Championship | 22 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 4[b] | 1 | 32 | 4 | |
| 2020–21[77] | Scottish League One | 20 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 7 | |
| Total | 53 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 72 | 13 | ||
| Kelty Hearts | 2021–22[78] | Scottish League Two | 36 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1[b] | 0 | 46 | 16 |
| 2022–23[55] | Scottish League One | 36 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3[b] | 0 | 40 | 2 | |
| Total | 72 | 14 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 86 | 18 | ||
| Career total | 452 | 77 | 35 | 9 | 39 | 9 | 26 | 3 | 553 | 98 | ||
