after only one season at leeds united harding moved to ipswich town in a part-exchange deal for ian westlake on 4 august 2006. leeds also paid ipswich £400,000 and a further £100,000 was dependent on westlake's appearances. harding made his ipswich debut in the opening game of the season in a 2–1 loss against crystal palace. harding then provided an assist for sylvain legwinski in a 3–1 win over southend united on 21 october 2006. harding established himself as first choice left back but despite suffering from an ankle injury that kept him out for three weeks, he won two awards in the ipswich town player of the year presentations.