Max Bardell

Max James Bardell (born 14 November 2002) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Derby County.

Bardell has previously featured in academy setups at Huddersfield Town and Manchester City, before he joined Derby County's academy in 2019, he made his first team debut at Derby in 2021 and became a professional in the summer of 2021.

Career
Bardell started his career at the academies of Huddersfield Town & Manchester City, before joining the Derby County academy in 2019 on a scholarship.

During the 2019–20 season, Bardell played 18 times for the under-18s in, including two appearances in Derby's run to the play-off rounds in the UEFA Youth League. For the 2020–21, in second year of his scholarship, Bardell captained the under-18 side, as well as making his first appearances for the under-21s.

In January 2021, Derby's first team squad suffered a Covid-19 outbreak which forced the first-team players and staff to miss the clubs third round FA Cup tie at Chorley and the clubs under-21s and 18s players and staff would replace them. On 9 January, the game took place with Bardell playing 73 minutes at right back, the youthful Derby side lost 2–0, but Bardell won praise for his performance.

In the summer of 2021, Bardell signed his first professional contract with Derby County, after completing his two-year scholarship. During the 2021–22 season, Bardell became a permanent member of the clubs under-21s, but a hamstring injury limited appearances. He featured in two first match day Championship squads as an unused substitute in February 2022.

The 2022–23 season was another injury affected one for Bardell, he was restricted to four under-21 appearances. Bardell made his second appearance for the first team in a 5–0 FA Cup First Round replay win over Torquay United in November 2022, Derby described this as his "official" debut. On 18 January 2023, Bardell signed a contract extension, extending his stay at Derby until June 2025.

Bardell featured in two-first team matchday squads in August 2024 at the start of the 2023–24 season A few days after being part of the first team squad, Bardell picked up an injury in the under-21 match against Tottenham Hotspur on 25 August 2023. This injury came at a time when all of Derby's professionally contracted right-backs were sidelined with injury. Bardell would return from his injury in January 2024. However, on 1 March 2024, Bardell picked up another injury in an under-21s match against Manchester United which would end his season prematurely. Bardell played in 6 Premier League 2 matches during the season for the under-21s.

Personal life
Born in England, Bardell is of Irish descent.