| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Hayden Rhys Hackney [1] | ||
| Date of birth | 26 June 2002 | ||
| Place of birth | Redcar, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) [2] | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Middlesbrough | ||
| Number | 7 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2011–2021 | Middlesbrough | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2021– | Middlesbrough | 86 | (9) |
| 2021–2022 | → Scunthorpe United (loan) | 28 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2016 | England U15 | 2 | (0) |
| 2022 | Scotland U21 | 2 | (0) |
| 2023– | England U21 | 9 | (1) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23 February 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19:56, 23 March 2025 (UTC) | |||
Hayden Rhys Hackney (born 26 June 2002) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL Championship club Middlesbrough.
Hackney was born in Redcar. [3] [4] He attended Sacred Heart Catholic Secondary School. [5]
Hackney joined Middlesbrough's academy at under-10 level. [3] Having been part of the Middlesbrough team that reached the under-18 Premier League Cup final in 2019, [6] he signed his first professional contract with the club on 26 June 2019, his 17th birthday. [7] [8] Shortly after being named on the first-team bench for a match against Barnsley in November 2019, he was praised by Middlesbrough manager Jonathan Woodgate, with Woodgate claiming "Hayden Hackney deserves to be there because he's been outstanding for the Under-23s". [4]
Hackney made his senior debut for Middlesbrough on 9 January 2021, starting in a 2–1 FA Cup defeat away to Brentford. [9] He made his league debut for the club in the final match of the season as a substitute in a 3–0 defeat to Wycombe Wanderers. [2] [10] He signed a new two-year contract with the club later that month. [11]
On 31 August 2021, Hackney joined EFL League Two side Scunthorpe United on loan until January 2022. [12] After playing in the majority of games in the first half of the season, Hackney's loan was extended to last until the end of the season. [13] In the 15th minute of a 2–0 defeat to Exeter City, [14] Hackney was caught spitting at an opponent. [15] The referee did not see this at the time, but after the game, the Football Association confirmed that Hackney had admitted to spitting and was given a six-game suspension. [16] [17] He made 31 appearances as Scunthorpe were relegated to the National League. [18]
Hackney's game time at Middlesbrough was limited at the start of the 2022–23 season, but Hackney became a regular starter following the appointment of Michael Carrick as manager in October 2022. [19] [20] On 19 October, Hackney scored his first goal for Middlesbrough in a 4–1 win against Wigan Athletic. [21] On 8 December, he signed a contract extension until 2026. [19] Hackney won the Middlesbrough Young Player of the Year Award for the 2022–23 season, [22] having made 38 appearances and scoring 3 goals. [2] Hackney was also nominated for the Championship Young Player of the Season Award for the same season, [23] but lost out to Bristol City's Alex Scott. [24]
On 28 June 2023, Hackney signed a new contract for Middlesbrough, keeping him to the club until the summer of 2027. [25] Hackney captained the club for the first time in a 1–0 home defeat to Aston Villa in the FA Cup on 6 January 2024. [26] On 9 January, he scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory over Chelsea in the first leg of the EFL Cup semi-final. [27]
Hackney represented England at under-15 level. [3] He is also eligible to represent Scotland because his mother was born in Edinburgh. He debuted for the Scotland under-21 team in November 2022. [28] [29] In September 2023, he was called up to the England under-21 squad for the first time. [30]
On 11 September 2023, Hackney made his England U21 debut during a 3–0 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification win away to Luxembourg. [31]
Hackney plays as a central midfielder. He often plays as a deep-lying playmaker due to his ability in possession of the ball. [6]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Middlesbrough U21 | 2018–19 | — | — | — | 1 [a] | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Middlesbrough | 2020–21 | Championship | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2021–22 | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2022–23 | Championship | 34 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 [b] | 0 | 38 | 3 | |
| 2023–24 | Championship | 21 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 2 | |
| 2024–25 | Championship | 20 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 3 | |
| Total | 76 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 89 | 8 | ||
| Scunthorpe United (loan) | 2021–22 | League Two | 28 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 [a] | 0 | 31 | 0 |
| Career total | 104 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 121 | 8 | ||
Individual