[6] Gardiner came from a football playing family with his father, John, a Carlton player during the 1870s.

His VFL career, spent mostly as a rover, began with two seasons at his father's club before switching to Melbourne in 1903.

The rover spent the 1908 season in Tasmania, as an umpire and coach of the TFL representative team.

He returned to the mainland to coach Tasmania at the 1908 Melbourne Carnival and stopped umpiring after that year.

His son, Jack Jr, also played football and represented Tasmania as the state wicket-keeper in cricket.