Aldershot Town defender Ollie Harfield has ‘proved them all wrong’ with injury return

By Steve Gibbs

Ollie Harfield was told by nine surgeons and hundreds of people on social media that he’d never play again – but has finally proved them all wrong!

After 717 days out with a horrific knee injury, which could have lost him his right leg, the Aldershot Town and England C defender played 32 minutes of the National League Cup tie against West Ham Under 21s on Tuesday night.

“The negativity has definitely fuelled me,” the popular defender told The NLP after an emotional night at the EBB Stadium.

“Every time I see a negative message, I screenshot it. And I’ve got thousands. That’s my biggest motivator, to prove people wrong.”

Yet with typical single-mindedness, he also states: “I was just built to come back, and that’s my job, to get fit again. Football’s all I’ve ever known, so it wasn’t a choice for me. It’s just what I have to do.”

Devastating knee injury

In September 2024, Harfield’s right knee “exploded” in an innocuous challenge with Tyrese Sinclair which left the York City winger in tears. He tore all ligaments and both meniscuses as his kneecap dislocated and was left “facing the wrong way”.

“I looked down and saw my knee and I was like, ‘well, this is not good’.

I didn’t know the extent of the damage. But as soon as I got to the hospital, I just said, ‘how long is it going to take to get back to football?’

From day one, I was dreaming of the comeback. I just don’t know where those 700-odd days have gone, to be honest. It’s been such a rollercoaster.

Initially, every surgeon discussing a recovery plan with Harfield refused to go beyond “we’ll just get you back to walking and you’ll live an alright life”. It’s probably a bit arrogant of me, but I thought ‘you don’t know what you’re talking about’.

BACK IN BUSINESS: Aldershot Town’s Ollie Harfield returned to action on Tuesday night after a 717-day injury lay-off

PICTURE: Ian Morsman

 

PUT IT THERE! Aldershot Town coach David Smalley congratulates Ollie Harfield on his return

The real hard work started

“Then Khalid Al-Hourani (knee surgeon at Surrey’s Frimley Park Hospital) came in and said, ‘we can fix you and get you back to football’. He just wanted to get stuck into it. When you’re a surgeon you want the bad stuff, because if you can fix that, you can almost fix anything, really. He was unbelievable.”

It was only then, though, that the real hard work started. Harfield describes his recovery as “20% physical, 80% mental”.

“All I’ve ever known as a human is to play football. So when football was taken away from me, I was lost,” he concedes. He paid his own travel and accommodation for away games just to retain a semblance of professional routine.

Harfield even saw the setback of another ligament injury in his other knee as a positive opportunity to continue rebuilding his strength. To differentiate, he now calls them “my bad, bad knee and my bad knee”. Then came Tuesday night.

Same player I was before

“It was weird,” he said. “I didn’t really know what to do with myself. I’m normally loud in the changing room, but I was so quiet. I couldn’t remember what I used to do before a game. But as soon as I got out to the warm-up, it just felt like I hadn’t been away.”

How did that first touch, tackle and sprint feel? “A lot of people say to me, ‘you must be terrified’. Not at all. I won my first header, a ball went in behind and I got there first. I was delighted how it went.”

Now, Harfield uses that same level of drive and ambition in setting his next targets. “People probably think I’m a bit deluded, but I expect to be the same player I was before,” he added. “That’s what I’ve put all the work in for, that’s what I expect from myself. If I didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t be here.

“My worst nightmare would be to come back and hear people say, ‘he’s not the same, he can’t do it anymore’.”

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