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Fullname: Charles Joseph John Hart
aka: Joseph Hart, Joe Hart, Charles Hart
Born: 19 April 1987
Birthplace: Shrewsbury, England
Signed: 3 August 2021 (£1m from Tottenham Hotspur)
Left: retired (26 May 2024)
Position: Goalkeeper
Debut: FK Jablonec 2-4 Celtic, UEFA Cup, 5 Aug 2021
Squad No.: 15 (2021-22), 1 (from 2022-23 onwards)
Internationals: England
International Caps: 75
Biog
“I’ve never felt professionally that special before in my entire life. How do you explain this to people? I don’t want to explain this to anyone. This is not a club that needs explaining, it speaks for itself.”
Joe Hart (May 2024)
Joe Hart was a surprise signing and in some ways ironic one, but really a desperate one for Celtic. The former England national goalkeeper had been often derided by some of the Celtic support as he had been given the nod ahead of Celtic’s Fraser Forster for the England number one jersey.
In recent seasons, he had been shaken badly, treated very poorly by being shunted around various clubs with little stability. For a player with his record & stature, it was poor going, and reflected poorly on the system down south. Celtic seemed to be a chance to escape that system and give his career a kick-start but with something genuine to play for rather than just keep going on the treadmill.
Now long out of the picture in the top echelons of the game in England, and with Celtic continually hitting new lows over the past 12 months, Joe Hart was transferred in cheaply to replace the underwhelming Barkas and Bain. His transfer actually came in the wake of some initial humiliating defeats in the first days of new manager Ange Postecoglou’s reign who privately at least knew that major changes was needed. The transfer in of Hart clearly demonstrated the club meant business.
A difficult debut saw him concede two goals behind a poor defence against an admittedly poor Czech side, but he wasn’t at fault, Celtic winning 4-2. He easily showed his worth from then onwards. Taking in that he had little played over the past two seasons, a little rustiness was expected.
Despite the early struggle, he made the position his own, and was the first bulkwark to the first team as the management implemented a new strategy of starting moves from the back. Admittedly, the passing at the back of the ball to begin moves and drag in opposition players often led to heart in the mouth moments but most often paid off.
As a goalkeeper he was tremendous in both his effort and reactions despite his age, and the confidence he gave to the outfield players clearly meant they could rely on him. The defence was now a far cry better than it was the season before he arrived, and that was clearly reflected in the relatively minimal goals conceded. Admittedly, there were moments when his form could swing during matches between sublime & incredible, but he was still simply transformative.
The difference Joe Hart had made can’t be underestimated. He doesn’t stop shouting & commanding his area in the entire game, always communicating with his defenders. Unafraid to come out his box too and start the moves, opposition players could see that he was a domineering player and it was not only the box that was under his control. He also looked every bit as vocal as the team captain (McGregor) in the pre-match Huddle as well.
Joe Hart really took Celtic and the support to heart too, and in interviews even outwith of the official channels he was open about his love and admiration for both the club and the support. After the difficulties he experienced at Spurs, it showed that he was undervalued too heavily by many down south and Celtic was giving him something that money can’t buy. He made the critics eat their words, and all he needed was a bit of love/respect:
“I spoke to Ange and I told him how I was feeling, how I was happy to go and play a part because I don’t need this anymore. I said you can take this as me being vulnerable. I just need a bit of love.”
As Celtic romped to the league & league cup double in 2021/22, you could see what it all meant to him with his key role in this achievement to regain the league title with so few goals conceded in the league. Joe Hart was central to the defensive achievements and deserved all the praise that came his way.
He made some personal history by becoming only the third player ever to win all the three trophies in Scotland and England in their playing career. He deserved respect for that.
Some tough runs, and he come unstuck against RB Leipzig in a vital champions league match in October 2022, when a comical howler gifted a decisive goal only a minute after a cancelled goal via VAR.
Admittedly some found him unconvincing. He definitely had the ability of a top keeper even at his age, but some of his lapses couldn’t be ignored and explained some of the frustrations. There was always a niggling thought at the back of everyone’s mind about his ability at this stage in his career.
Brendan Rodgers Era
At the start of this season, Joe Hart to many looked to be on the wane. He had some questionable moments in the pre season friendlies which raised concerns, but after a solid performance in goals behind a makeshift central defence (due to injuries) in a 1-0 win away at Ibrox (Sep 2023), he proved there was still a lot in him yet. There were a number of occasions when Celtic were underperforming that he was forced to make some top class saves.
However, his form was declining albeit he was still an able performer between the sticks. Yet he was still a generally reliable player even when Celtic went through sticky patches through this season. It didn’t help with a rotating defensive unit, with central player Carter-Vickers out injured for large periods, whilst others were not always convincing. It didn’t help.
One of the most notable performances he played was in a 3-3 draw with Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup semi-finals (April 2024). Celtic ended up going into penalties, and to the shock of everyone he stepped up to take the final ‘decisive’ penalty of the standard five, which he duly missed (it hit the post). However, he shrugged it off and then saved an Aberdeen penalty to take Celtic through to the final! So he missed a penalty and still went on to be the hero!
He announced during the second half of the season that he had decided to hang up his gloves at the end of the season, which we all respected. If anything, it meant taking the pressure off everyone with this humble act rather than play on forever in vein as some others have attempted. Curiously, this seemed to take the pressure off himself and his defensive colleagues, and allied with the return in form of Carter-Vickers, the defence were at their best from over the season (albeit still some concerns).
He performed to the best of his ability, and always gave his all. He always responded to the any challenge or any set-back (like the penalty miss v Aberdeen) with stoic attitude, and worked doubly hard to improve himself. The role always came first above his own self.
Celtic went on to wrap up the league title in the final quarter of the season, his long final journey to retirement saw him adulated by the support, with an incredible banner by the Green Brigade Ultras in his honour. He signed off from his last match at Celtic Park so emotionally it even put a lump in the throats of the hardest of supporters:
“I’ve never felt professionally that special before in my entire life. How do you explain this to people? I don’t want to explain this to anyone. This is not a club that needs explaining, it speaks for itself.”
His final competitive senior match was the Scottish Cup final in May 2024, against TheRangers, which Celtic won 1-0 at the death, giving Joe Hart a wonderful sign-off from the professional game. Ironically, he had quite a quiet game relatively to what was expected, with a Sevco goal ruled out due to a shove on his back, but he savoured the moment saying:
“Nowhere else on planet I’d want to play… The three years here have been beautiful”
What his time attested to is that what you may sacrifice financially to come to Celtic by leaving the EPL gravy train, you can make up with lifelong experiences, the love of the supporters and the atmosphere of the club.
He was truly priceless in some ways, as a player & person, and an honour to have had him play for the club.
Joe Hart left Celtic after three very event years, a time that gave him back his self-respect, his worth and honour, and in return Celtic received as much if not more. A truly class act for Celtic as a person, a player and a professional. We wished him the very best.
Post-Celtic
[….]
Quotes
“I feel really privileged, I feel very excited and feel very proud to wear the Celtic badge – even just sitting here just now with the club tracksuit on,” said the 34-year-old, 75-times capped Englishman. “I’ve not even managed to wear the jersey on the pitch yet. But, I tell you, I’m proud and excited about what’s to come.”
Joe Hart (Jul 2021)
“I think these guys just appreciate people who wear their heart on their sleeve. I’m not the greatest goalkeeper in the world but I play with my heart and I play for the club on my chest.”
Joe Hart
“I’ve loved it, I’ve loved every minute of it. I’m really happy here ( #Celtic ). Celtic is massive. Old firm (sic!|) at Celtic Park was the one of the best footballing moments I’ve ever been part of – It was Nuts!”
Joe hart on @InTheStiffs podcast (March 2022)
“He’s made an old donkey like me feel young again”
Joe Hart was full of praise for manager Ange Postecoglou on the eve of a league clash against @JamTarts (2022)
“The atmosphere and support are fantastic, we feel it everywhere we go.”
Joe Hart (June 2022)
“Joe Hart epitomised Celtic complacency and title race will be far from over if there are more slip ups.”
Chris Sutton after 2-2 game at Ibrox where Hart had lapse but thankfully nothing conceded (Jan 2023)
“We are so lucky to have our fans behind us wherever we go”
Joe Hart (Mar 2022)
“I am 36 now, I come in to Celtic every day to learn and be a better human being.”
Joe Hart
“I love being here, I love being part of the team.”
Joe Hart (Sep 2023)
“I’m a maniac when it comes to penalties!”
Joe Hart (Apr 2024)
“I can’t talk about how much this means to me & my family – this place. It means everything. It has touched me so deep down in my heart that I’ll hopefully be comfortable talking about it soon but I don’t want to blubbering on the football pitch.”
Joe Hart after sealing the league title (May 2024)
“He’s loved and adored by the supporters – they see he’s a genuine guy who has given his all for Celtic.”
Brendan Rodgers paid tribute to Joe Hart (May 2024)
“I’ve never felt professionally that special before in my entire life. “How do you explain this to people? I don’t want to explain this to anyone. This is not a club that needs explaining, it speaks for itself.”
Joe Hart addresses the Celtic support after his last league match (May 2024)
“This is not a club that needs explaining. This is a club that speaks for itself”
Joe Hart
“Celtic is a feeling. You either feel it or you don’t.”
Joe Hart
“Celtic family …. I honestly don’t know where to start. I thought if I gave it a day I would be able to find some words to describe how I you made me feel yesterday, but I’m sat here and I’m still speechless…All I can say is that that is one my greatest ever days as a professional, I’m truly honoured and humbled with the send off you gave me at your beautiful home.”
– “Please know that the love and passion I have for the football club will be with me and my family forever and I will return as a supporter one day soon. But for now… we have business to take care of and a huge week ahead… so thank you again and let’s get down to business.”
Joe Hart via Instagram (May 2024)
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES (subs) | LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 2021-22 | 35 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 54 |
| Shut-outs | |||||
| 2022-23 | 37 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 50 |
| Shut-outs | |||||
| 2023-24 | 37 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 49 |
| Shuts-outs | |||||
| Total | 109 | 14 | 7 | 23 | 153 |
| Shut-outs |
Honours with Celtic
(Honours are marked below in which the player has played in at least one of the matches in the campaign.)
Scottish League
Scottish Cup
Scottish League Cup
Pictures
Forums
- First Thread (2021)
Articles
Notes
- Joe Hart became only the second Celtic player to win ALL major domestic honours in Scotland and England. Kenny Dalglish was the first.