Alloa Athletic centre back Ryan Harding can be forgiven for enjoying The Wasps’ 14 game unbeaten run more than the rest of the Recreation Park squad as this time last year, he was fearful than the only career he had known was going to be taken away from him.
Harding was halfway through the season with Maltese side Birkirkira when he was told to take a break from the game as he was suffering from a heart condition.
He explained: “I had felt dizzy and unwell so I went to see the Doctor over there and he told me that I had an irregular heartbeat. I was told to take a month out and then went back to see a cardiologist and he again told me that I should not be playing.
“I got the chance to come home and got some tests carried. They gave me the all clear and that was a massive relief as football is all I have known since leaving school.”
The big centre back added: “It was a shame how things ended up with Birkirkara as I had enjoyed it there. It was very different to what I had been used to in Scotland and I could tell that from my first friendly for them that took place at 10 o’clock at night and it was 32 degrees and my shirt was soaked in sweat.”
The 27-year-old's journey to the heat of the sunshine island began at prolific Edinburgh boys clubs Salvesen and Hutchison Vale with Harding saying: “I spent about five years at Hutchison and we had a right good side with Steven Whittaker and Kevin Thomson in it. The team in the year above us included Derek Riordan and Elliot Smith so there was plenty of good players at the club at that time.”
Like Whittaker and Thomson, Harding started off his career at Hibernian as he explained: “I was a schoolboy signing at Hibs and spent three years there under Donald Park. I was a regular in defence in the reserve side but I never made it into the first team.”
That lack of first team action led Harding to move to Livingston and he got a taste of first team action in November 2004 as the Lions defeated Kilmarnock 3-1 at Rugby Park.
Harding started against Dundee the following week before ironically facing his next club Morton in the Scottish Cup in January 2005 and then his former club Hibernian in a SPL game just a few days later. The defender must have impressed Greenock boss Jim McInally as he moved just two months later to bring Harding to Cappielow to try and get the club promoted out of the Second Division.
“It was a good move for me as it kept me full-time,” said Harding before adding, “And I also did not know just how big a club they are. I basically moved from playing in reserve team football to playing in front of 2,500 to 4,500 fans in the Second Division. Unfortunately, Stranraer pipped us to second place that season and we stayed in that division.”
The following season Harding and his Greenock colleagues were left trailing in the wake of big spending Gretna and lost out in the first ever promotion Play-Offs to Peterhead. The next season however, it all came good as Morton ran away with the Second Division title.
Harding said: “It was great to finally get the club promoted and we were delighted to win it for Jim. He is a good guy and he was the first Manager that ever spoke to me on an equal basis. You could approach and speak to Jim and his assistant Martin Clark.”
Within a short period of time, things were changing at the Tail o’ the Bank with Harding commenting: “Jim left early into 2008 and then I picked up a bad injury at the start of the next season and that kept me out from the October to the start of the next season.”
McInally had been appointed as Manager of East Stirlingshire before Harding was injured and the pair were reunited just before Christmas 2009 with Harding saying: “I had played a few games for Morton but I was not a regular so I took my chances by leaving and joining East Stirling as an amateur.”
The defender went on to play in more than 20 games for The Shire as they finished third in the table before he suffered more Play-Off disappointment as McInally’s men lost 3-2 on aggregate to Forfar Athletic in the Promotion Play-Offs.
After his stint in the Third Division, Harding was offered the chance to join Birkirkira and he said: “I got a call and thought, why not? It was different and it was a return to full-time football so I am glad I took the chance.”
Harding’s return to these shores saw his career return to the Third Division as he was offered the chance to join the Paul Hartley revolution at Alloa and after a slow start, things have really gelled.
“I am really enjoying it and things are going well,” said Harding before adding, “We were a bit up and down in the first quarter and looking back, that is not a surprise as we were a brand new team. The only player that remained from the previous season was Ross Philp and he was out injured.”
Harding gives Manager Hartley plenty of credit saying: “He has built a team from scratch and to be honest, the Manager is one of the reasons that the squad was built so quickly. He attracts players to the club and I know some guys had options to go to teams in higher divisions but have come here because of the effect the Manager and his assistant, Paddy Connolly, have had.
“Their training has been first class and they have also brought in Tom Ritchie, who used to be at Hearts, to help with the fitness work. Tom works us hard but you can feel the benefit and the mixture between fun and hard work is good.”
Hartley returned to one of his former clubs, St. Johnstone, to add Stephen May on loan and that move could prove pivotal in the chase for the Third Division title.
Harding explained: “Stevie has been brilliant for us and he has everything you need to be a player. He is strong, quick and direct and nine goals in eight games speaks for itself. We were all delighted and a wee bit surprised that he was able to stay on loan until the end of the season.
“Promotion is our target this season and that is either through winning the League or via the Play-Offs. It is obviously more of a challenge to lead from the front but all we will ever say is that a place in the top four is our aim.”
Queen’s Park at Hampden is the latest test for The Wasps and with The Spiders looking to bounce back from a disappointing defeat at Peterhead last weekend, Harding knows that his side will need to play well to consolidate their lead even further.
He said: “Most of the season it has been about Annan, Stranraer and Alloa but all of a sudden a couple of weeks ago, everyone noticed that Queen’s had crept up the table. They are a good side and will be upset at losing last weekend so we know it will be tough.
“Like us, they like to play it on the deck and we can do that on our artificial surface and usually the surface at the National Stadium is good, so there be some good football played.”
Harding finished by saying: “We have beaten them twice this season but I would not read too much into that as in the last game at our place, they played really well.”
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