Joe Hart will always have a special place in the hearts of thousands of Celtic fans.
The big Englishman signed for Celtic during one of the most turbulent periods of the club’s recent history.
Having just lost the league title to Rangers and ending the 2020/21 season trophyless, the Parkhead club had to embark on a big rebuilding programme under Ange Postecoglou and Hart was one of Celtic’s first signings to start the journey.
Winning a league and cup double in his first season and then a treble in his final at Celtic, Hart has now shared three special memories from his time at the club and how and who he told first at Parkhead about his decision to retire from football.
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Joe Hart’s ‘first experience’ of the Celtic ‘winning machine’
Hart created his own piece of history at Celtic after becoming the first player since Kenny Dalglish to win every trophy in England and Scotland at the club.
But here, the Celtic hero shares his first experiences of winning silverware at Parkhead as he shares the shirts he kept from two of the ‘best days’ of his career.
Hart said on Instagram, “Speaking of beautiful clubs, it’s my first ever Celtic shirt. Oh, it’s a final!
“Here we go, Premier Sports Cup Final, Hibs versus Celtic. Massive win. I actually think I had COVID during that game, but amazing to win the game, win my first trophy, win our first trophy of the season having the previous year Celtic not having won anything.
“And that was my first experience of being part of this winning machine, and it was really special. It was great to be back winning lifting trophies again.
“Another beautiful Celtic top. Scottish Gas Men’s Scottish Cup Final 2024. Champagne soaked. Again, it was my last ever game. The last ever time I played professional football. I lifted a trophy in it again for this beautiful club.
“And one of the best days of my career, just knowing that I’ve done it, finish strong. And we got the job done.”
Joe Hart shares who he told first about his retirement at Celtic, it wasn’t Brendan Rodgers
The day Hart decided to hang up his gloves was a dark one for Celtic and the fans. After taking over the mantle from the disastrous Vasilis Barkas era, the big goalkeeper proved to be as reliable as they come between the sticks.
But as a decision on his future weighed heavy on his mind, Hart shares the Celtic man he told first about his decision to walk away from football for good.
Hart continued, “Well what have we got here. Right, so this is cool. So I was very close with my goalkeeper coach at Celtic [Stevie Woods]. Still am now, and this is a match day. This was the day that I told him, 11th of February 2024, St Mirren away in the cup.
“We won 2-0 and I pulled him out. I decided that I was going to stop playing football, and I understood that it was a strange one to to tell people, because it didn’t really make sense.
“I was playing well. I was fit, young and healthy, but I wanted to tell him, and I wanted to tell the club, and I wanted to finish properly. And he’s written here, ‘Last season, retire happy’.
“So I took him out on the pitch. He panicked. I said, ‘Can I have a word with you? I want to tell you something’.
“So he’s panicked. We literally just won the game, and it was just on my mind. I needed to do it. So I took him out, took him to the centre circle, and I went to speak, and I just started crying.
“And he was absolutely petrified. He thought I had some horrific family news or something and I was trying to tell him, ‘Don’t panic, it’s good, don’t panic, it’s good’.
“So yeah, I managed to tell him that I was going to finish, of which he was very relieved that that was the news, it wasn’t anything bad. We hugged it out and we finished the season strong.”
Now enjoying a successful career in TV punditry, Hart never shies away from his continued love for Celtic.
Clearly the club have made a huge impression on the former England international but as previously said, Super Joe Hart will always have a special place in the Celtic fans’ hearts.
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