Manchester City legend and ex-England international Joe Hart has announced he will be retiring at the end of the season, bringing a close to a career spanning over two decades.
The iconic Man City keeper and former Three Lions goalkeeper played 266 games for the Blues and had 75 senior caps, but has finally decided to call it a day at the age of 36.
Currently in net for Scottish giants Celtic, who are going for an incredible 54th league title this season, the number one and long-serving English keeper confirmed in a club interview that he will be hanging up his gloves at the end of this campaign.
He also represented his country at three major international tournaments but says he is now in a “place of clarity” and confident in his decision, with manager Brendan Rodgers insisting he will be a “huge miss to the game”. Truly the end of an era.
🧤 Joe Hart announces that he will be retiring from playing football at the end of this season.
Joe Hart is retiring after 20 years at the top level.
Having spent 12 years at City between 2006-2018 and making over 340 appearances in the Premier League at the likes of Burnley, West Ham and a handful for Spurs in club competitions, not to mention nearly a century of games for Celtic since 2021 already, it’s fair to call Joe Hart a footballing veteran.
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All told, he has made over 700 appearances at club level and even more all-told, with half of a blockbuster season in Scotland still yet to go. Quite the achievement.
Most famously back here in Manchester though, not only did he pick up four golden gloves during his time at the Etihad but he was also in net for the Aguero goal when the Blues won their first league title in 44 years, and his reaction to the stoppage time winner is almost just as memorable as the strike itself.
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But, more importantly, he had plenty of highlight reels of his own.
Speaking to Celtic TV following the announcement, the Shrewsbury-born shot-stopper said: “This something that I have thought about for a while, there’s no right or wrong time is there?…
“Physically I feel great — I feel as good as I possibly can do for my age and what I have done to my body, I have been on the bench since I was 15 and have been involved in professional football every day since I was 16.
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“I have gone down every avenue to keep myself in the best possible shape to give my all on game day and I do really think I am at that peak, but I am aware time waits for no man and I don’t want my body to be retiring me. That was one of the key factors, thinking I can smash through the finish line.”
You can watch Joe Hart’s full interview following confirmation of his retirement from professional football down below. Goodbye to one of the greats and all the best for the rest of the title race.
Featured Images — jpellgen (via Flickr)/Wikimedia Commons
Sport
Manchester United agree record streaming deal for new Amazon documentary TV series
Danny Jones
Manchester United have officially agreed a record sporting TV deal for a brand-new documentary TV series on the Amazon Prime Video streaming service.
That’s right, Man United are getting the All Or Nothing treatment.
With the Red Devils finishing the 2025/26 season much stronger than they started it, they’re now set to invite a film crew into the dressing room and the newly refurbished Carrington training complex for the upcoming campaign.
Although there have been many United documentaries over the years, everything from big budget and smaller indie projects to fan-made, this new show looks set to give a more exclusive present day peak behind the curtain of the club’s modern-day set-up than ever before.
While it remains unclear whether or not this past term’s exploits – be it the drama of the Ruben Amorim era, or the upturn under Michael Carrick – are set to be included, as the official announcement teases, the Amazon series will provide behind-the-scenes MUFC throughout the 26/27 term.
There was an opportunity to accept this kind of coverage shortly after INEOS invested in the business, but Amorim put a rather public kibosh on the offer to preserve the backroom’s privacy and prevent any unnecessary intrusion.
Understandably, a lot of people agree with the decision, especially given the team was not just in another state of flux but at a crucial turning point under their then-new boss.
Taking a more old-school manager approach, it may have been seen as a sensible step, but it wouldn’t have mattered either way, as the Portuguese head coach (who now looks set to join AC Milan) was eventually sacked after just over a year in charge.
Nevertheless, many supporters are still reticent about the prospect of lifting the lid on an organisation that has famously seen plenty of turbulence. The fan base will just be hoping for a season to remember for the right reasons while the cameras are running for a reportedly record
Really not a fan of this – I wonder what someone like Carrick thinks of this? Additional scrutiny and pressure in his first full season as Head Coach.
The two most recent Premier League champions, Arsenal and Man City, have both seen seasons of Amazon’s now well-known docuseries before going on to win landmark titles, so perhaps it could be a good omen; who knows?
Conversely, Sunderland – who were infamously selected as one of the first subjects of this all-access kind of series – arguably ended up putting more unnecessary spotlight on their struggles.
As for those under the All Or Nothing umbrella, Spurs, Juventus and even the German international have also served as examples of how the big payout may not always be worth the bad press, with all three having gone through plenty of trials and tribulations in and around the respective versions airing.
Let’s just say that, reportedly ‘record’ sums or not, this could still go one way or the other…
While it’s still unclear as to the actual figure Manchester United will be taking home as part of the package with Amazon, this is yet another example of the steady Americanisation of association football, starting with the NFL and ice hockey before now drawing even wider audiences to the beautiful game.
Manchester City sign Beth Mead as European champion Lioness completes major transfer move to WSL title rivals
Danny Jones
In a major move for recently crowned champions Manchester City, two-time Euros winner Beth Mead has completed a switch from title Women’s Super League (WSL) rivals Arsenal.
This one is sure to cause quite the stir, especially given the players that have been transferred between them in the past.
Announcing the signing on Friday, 12 June, Man City Women confirmed the done deal in a social media post that also revealed she will don the number seven shirt.
With City having finally won the first title in over a decade earlier this year – only their second in the modern era – the England Women’s star and WSL heavyweight didn’t mince her words on arrival, telling the club and its fans: “I’m here to win.”
The 31-year-old from Whitby spent the best part of nine years at Arsenal, during which time she has also gone on to become one of the most prolific Lionesses under Sarina Wiegman.
Boasting not only 81 national team caps to her name, but also having scored 40 times in his career thus far (her assists included, guaranteeing at least a goal contribution every other game, on average), she’s been one of the most dangerous female forwards in Europe for some time now.
Speaking in a club statement, she said: “City have always played beautiful football, but I think this season they’ve been very cutthroat in front of goal, [found] different ways of scoring, different ways of creating goalscoring opportunities.
“I think that’s been the difference: they’ve found ways to score and win games when it’s been cagey, or whether it’s felt easy and you become complacent. I think that’s been the difference this season for City winning.”
Having already linked up with fellow England star Alex Greenwood upon making her first appearance at Man City’s brand new women’s football facility, she went on to add: “I’ve played with a lot of the players in the team, I’ve watched a lot of players in the team over the years and in the season gone [by], and I think that’s what created a lot of excitement.
They’ve aimed to set a new industry standard for the women’s game.
Penning a first MCWFC contract this week, she has signed a deal until the summer of 2029; both she and City supporters will no doubt be hoping she can add at least one more piece of silverware by the end of the 2026/27 campaign.
With head coach Andrée Jeglertz now looking to mount a title defence over at the Etihad Campus, and the Women’s World Cup in Brazil getting underway this time next year, Mead will obviously be looking to hit the ground running ahead of her first season in sky blue.
There is undoubtedly an element of curiosity to see who will have the better overall performance this upcoming term between her and national teammate Chloe Kelly, with the latter ex-City player having left the club for the red side of north London instead.
Speaking of cities split into two halves, football-wise, elsewhere in transfer news, Manchester United have also been linked to a new attacker of their own – it remains to be seen how strong the interest is going both ways…
Danny Jones -
22nd February 2024 
