Joe Hart: The Ups and The Downs
Joe Hart has just announced that he is retiring from football at the end of this season, he’s had a crazy career with many moments of controversy and some unreal performances that make him one of the best goalkeepers of all time.
Joe Hart is currently playing at Celtic who are currently in the race to win the league only two points behind Rangers. Hart made his debut for Shrewsbury, his home town , in 2004 before moving to Manchester City in the 2005/06 season for £900,000. However he was mainly loaned out to lower league clubs during this time including time at both Tranmere Rovers in 2007 and also Blackpool. He had a loan spell in the 2009-10 season at Birmingham City where he was nominated for PFA Young Player of the year and was voted goalkeeper of the season.
He then returned to Manchester City and this is where his career kicked on. He won the Golden Glove for keeping the most clean sheets throughout the season. During this time he got called up for the England senior team in the 2010 World Cup which was a massive achievement at the time. Hart did not feature at the World Cup but would later go on to earn his fourth cap in a friendly against Hungary.
In the 2011-12 season Hart was able to win the Premier League and also win the Golden Glove again. In the same season he got given a his first competitive cap in a UEFA Euro qualifier against Bulgaria where he kept a clean sheet and made some crucial saves, one in which he palmed away to create a counterattack that led to an England goal. Hart won a second Premier League in 2013-14, he holds the joint record for most Premier League Golden Glove Awards (four) and has over 100 premier league clean sheets.
In the 2016 season, Pep Guardiola arrived and Hart was made second-choice goalkeeper, he made only one appearance in the Champions League before spending successive seasons at both Torino and West Ham United where he made a combined 55 appearances for both clubs. in 2018 he made a permanent move to Burnley where he would make 19 appearances in two seasons at the Clarets. After this he signed with Tottenham Hotspur on a two year deal however found himself as the back up goalkeeper and didn’t make a single appearance for the Lilywhites.
A year later he signed for Scottish side Celtic where he found himself first choice keeper having made nearly 100 appearances for the team as they look to challenge for the league title this season. He was recognised as England’s number one between the years 2010 to 2017, gaining 75 caps during this time and keeping 43 clean sheets. He played for Manchester City 348 times and during his career won two Premier League titles, one FA Cup, Two English League Cups and then helped Celtic win the League twice, win one Scottish cup and win two Scottish League cups. Not to mention he could still win some more silver wear come the end of this season depending on the performances of Celtic.
” This is something that I have thought about for a while,” Hart told Celtic TV. ” I’m not going to be available to play football next season,”. Hart approaching the age of 37 has had an almighty career, one in which is praised by football fans all over the country and is the one of the Goalkeepers we will always remember even if that is for his Whitty character. He isn’t just a football player he was a comedian off the pitch and never failed to make football fans smile.
