Celtic goalkeeper Joe Hart has announced he will retire after this season, ending a 20-year career that included 75 appearances for England.
The former Manchester City keeper said Thursday that this season in Glasgow will be his last, despite feeling physically “great.”
“I wanted to get the message out that as of June I’m going to stop playing professional football,” the 36-year-old Hart told Celtic TV. “This is something that I’ve thought about for a while. There’s no right or wrong time, is there?”
Hart was a two-time Premier League champion in his 12-year stint with City, which included loans to Birmingham, West Ham and Torino. He’s helped Celtic win two league titles in Scotland.
He has also won six cup medals with City and Celtic.
“Come game day, I really do peak,” Hart said. “But I’m aware that time waits for no man. I don’t want my body to be retiring me. That was one of the key factors.”
Hart, who joined the Scottish champions from Tottenham in 2021, made his first-team debut for Shrewsbury in April 2004.
Battling for the Scottish league title, Celtic trails Rangers by two points with 13 games remaining.
“Mentally I’m in that one place that I like to be, I’m in a place of clarity,” he told Celtic TV. “Obviously, I’ve thought about this a lot.
“All I want to do now is focus,” he said. “I want to focus on the job in hand, representing this amazing club that I play for and living my heart and soul out on the field.”
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers praised Hart’s “phenomenal career”.
“For all he has done in football, Joe deserves huge praise and congratulations,” he said in a club statement.
“He has been such a brilliant asset to Celtic of course and the wider game at the highest levels, domestically and internationally.
“But more than that, he is a tremendous man, just brilliant to work with.”
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