Alex Hartridge sets sights on Plymouth Argyle promotion challenge
The defender became Argyle's first signing of the summer after leaving fellow League One side Burton Albion
Alex Hartridge believes he is ready to play the best football of his career after becoming Plymouth Argyle's first summer signing ahead of the 2026/27 season.
Hartridge has learned a lot about playing at League One level from his time at Exeter City, Wycombe Wanderers and, most recently, Burton Albion and is ready to put that to good use with the Pilgrims.
The 27-year-old left-sided defender, who comes from Totnes, has set his sights on a promotion push with Argyle with the eventual aim of playing with them in the Championship.
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In an interview with Plymouth Live, Hartridge stated that when he first heard of Argyle's interest in him it was 'something that excited me pretty instantly'.
Hartridge said: "With my connections with Exeter, I spent a lot of time going from Totnes up the A38 instead of down the A38!
"Living so close to Plymouth and being in the area I'm well aware of the history of the club, the size of it and everything around it.
"I see Argyle as a Championship team. It's a football club that is so central to the city and the area, and just a huge institution."
Given the size of the club, and after a near miss at making the League One play-offs last season, there will be high expectations for the Pilgrims in 2026/27.
"It's something that is exciting because it goes hand in hand with a team and a club that are striving to do that," said Hartridge.
"I think if you are worrying about how that pressure is going to affect you, or try and shy away from it, you are not going to get out of football what you want. It's a massive plus for me."
Hartridge joined Burton on a one-year deal at the end of the 2025 summer transfer and made a total of 41 starts and two substitute appearances over the rest of the season.
On how his move to Argyle came about, he said: "I was out of contract at Burton and just waited for the phone to ring and see who was interested.
"Then probably a week or two after the season I heard about some contact with Argyle and it went from there really. It was something that excited me pretty instantly.
"I had a call with Tom (Cleverley, Argyle's head coach) pretty early on when the interest was made clear to me. It was about where he sees me fitting in the team.
"It was kind of a football chat really because I didn't need much information about the club and the area. It was all about does this make sense football wise because the other two certainly did."
Hartridge was 27 in March so can be considered to be in the prime of his career, which added to the importance of the decision he took to sign for Argyle.
"I believe that I'm playing the best football and I have got more tools than I have had at any point in my career so far," he said.
"In terms of ambition and what I want to get out of this move, it's to be successful at the top end of this league initially and then hopefully in the league above.
"My success in this league for the last three or four years has been avoiding relegation and I'm aware that's not the aims of Argyle. That's a step up I really want to make and I think it can propel me to a level even higher with the club."
He went on: "In terms of tools that I have got, physical and technical attributes, I would say I'm good in the air, I'm strong and I can cover ground.
"With the amount of games I have played in this league, I'm at a stage where most of the game situations that I come across now I have been in before.
"My decision making and my composure has certainly improved because of that so I feel like an experienced player who can read situations and the game well."
Getting the chance to play for Argyle in front of big crowds at Home Park, having played there in the past for Exeter and Burton was an attraction for Hartridge.
He lined up for Exeter when they twice took the lead before losing 4-2 in a League One game at the Theatre of Greens in October 2022.
Hartridge said he was 'so excited' about playing at Home Park in a green shirt. "The Devon derby was a game that really stands out in my career.
"It's an atmosphere that I have only really played in on the opposite side of, playing against Argyle and then other big teams in League One. I'm really looking forward to having that opportunity to play for that group of fans."
It is not often that a former Exeter player crosses the Devon divide to join Argyle, although Caleb Watts did it last summer when he moved directly from the Grecians.
Hartridge said: "People that are close to me and know me are just happy for me, and that means a lot, and my family and friends are really happy that I'm going to be back in the area."
He added: "It would be great to play in a Devon derby (against Exeter) in an Argyle shirt because they are the games that make you feel alive, and I'm sure fate will have us play one soon anyway."
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