Joe Hart – who will retire at the end of this season – deserves to be remembered for his peak at Man City, instead of his years of hardship in small clubs.
For some England fans, the news that Joe Hart will retire at the end of the season may be greeted with a shrug. The former England goalkeeper has not played regularly in the Premier League for the past six years, and has not been on the list of best goalkeepers for much longer than that. Hart stopped playing for England in November 2017, when coach Gareth Southgate first took charge. In the last three years of his career, the former Premier League champion had to move to Scotland to play for Celtic. Ten years after his peak, he looks like a goalkeeper from another era.
But that doesn’t mean history doesn’t recognize what an important player Hart was and what a great career he had. Hart’s retirement not only brings an end to his playing career, but also signifies the end of an era.
Joe Hart celebrates the decisive goal in Man City’s 3-2 win over QPR in the final round of the 2011-2012 Premier League at Etihad Stadium. Photo: Man City
Over the past 10 years, Hart is still the only English goalkeeper to win the Premier League. The 36-year-old star was an indispensable member of the Man City team that won the 2011-2012 and 2013-2014 seasons. Whatever happens in the second half of his career cannot overshadow those moments. Two championships with Man City have put Hart on par with David Seaman, the English goalkeeper who won three Premier Leagues with Arsenal, and other great English goalkeepers.
The audience may have to wait a long time to see another English goalkeeper win the national championship. The generation following Hart, including Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope and Aaron Ramsdale, have not done this. Ramsdale came close to winning the championship with Arsenal last season, but is no longer the number one choice this season.
Hart also did something else important: he was one of the last goalkeepers to build his reputation on hand reflexes instead of foot skills. At his peak, he possessed outstanding physical strength and excellent saves. However, he is not a goalkeeper who can play as a midfielder if forced to do so. Hart doesn’t always feel comfortable receiving the ball with his feet, or making long passes that penetrate the opposition’s defense. That’s also part of the reason Hart’s career took a different direction when football began to change. When Pep Guardiola arrived at Man City in the summer of 2016, one of his first decisions was to drop Hart. Guardiola wants Man City to develop the ball from the bottom and Hart cannot give them that.
Hart also lost his place in the England team to Pickford for the same reason. Next summer, Pickford can play his fourth major tournament in a row and look forward to the 2026 World Cup.
Goalkeeping has changed in the last 10 years. When watching Ederson, Allison, David Raya or Guglielmo Vicario, fans can understand why Hart is the goalkeeper of the 2010s instead of the 2020s. But in his era, Hart is truly the best goalkeeper in the Premier League. . He started for Man City at the age of 20 and became a national player a year later. Man City bought Shay Given from Newcastle in 2009, but Hart overcame competitive pressure to claim the number one position. In the 2010-2011 season, he contributed greatly to helping Man City win the FA Cup, including a 1-0 semi-final win over Man Utd and a 1-0 final win over Stoke. The following season, Man City won their first Premier League. The image of Hart running with his arms wide open like crazy after Sergio Aguero’s decisive goal is one of the historical images of Man City.
After coach Manuel Pellegrini replaced Roberto Mancini in 2013, Hart took a short break from playing before returning to help Man City win their second Premier League. He also had excellent performances in the Champions League against Barca and Dortmund. With two Premier Leagues, one FA Cup and two League Cups, Hart will always be remembered as one of the indispensable players in the early stages of the club’s success.
Hart won the Scorland League Cup with Celtic in 2022. Photo: Action Plus
Hart never came close to winning international honors, but his 75 caps and officiating at three major tournaments earned him a place in history. Hart could have also started at the 2010 World Cup, but coach Fabio Capello did not have the courage to make the same decision as compatriot Roberto Mancini at the club level.
Hart was criticized for the goals he lost in the matches against Wales and Iceland at Euro 2016. However, England’s failure did not only stem from goalkeeper errors. If Hart were five or ten years older and played under former manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, his international career might be viewed in a different light.
Over the years, it has been fashionable to criticize Hart. Public opinion often focuses on weaknesses rather than strengths, or laughs about moments when he makes mistakes rather than doing things right. But as time passes, successes will be remembered longer than failures. Despite difficulties at Torino, West Ham, Burnley and Tottenham, Hart still ended his career with his head held high. In three years at Celtic , he won at least two national championships and three domestic Cups, enough to show that his advantages are still useful in modern football.
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