Matthew Hardy was born in Glen Waverley, Victoria where the football influence resulted in the first major ambition of his life."I discovered passion in a packet of footy cards Whatever kind of man I have become since then is the direct result of walking into my local milk bar some time during the 1978 footy season, aged nine, and walking out into a whole new world. Like my first successful swim without Floaties, this act miraculously altered my life forever. Unlike most of my mates, I d never harboured any dreams of becoming an astronaut or a fire-fighter. Now, there could be no doubt of my future. I wasn t just going to be a footballer. I wanted to be Trevor Barker."
