Joe Hart

Shrewsbury Town

While still a 15-year-old schoolboy, Hart travelled with the first-team squad of his hometown club, Shrewsbury Town, to Exeter City on 1 February 2003. He was a non-playing substitute on that occasion and fulfilled that role again versus Rochdale at Gay Meadow on 1 March 2003, still some six weeks short of his 16th birthday. This match yielded Shrewsbury's final victory in a season that culminated in relegation to the Football Conference. During the one season that Shrewsbury spent in the Conference, Hart made his senior debut on 20 April 2004, the day after his 17th birthday. He played the full 90 minutes in the match against Gravesend & Northfleet. Four days later, he conceded three at Morecambe. Hart did not play again until April of the following year, as Scott Howie dominated goalkeeping duties. With Shrewsbury back in the Football League and struggling in the newly renamed League Two, Hart played six matches, conceding four goals. From the start of the 2005–06 season, Hart made the step up into the first team, and became the club's first-choice goalkeeper. He played a full 46-match league season, conceding 55 goals. Despite conceding more than one goal per game, Hart won plaudits for his personal performances, winning his first England under-19 cap in October 2005, as a substitute against Poland. Hart also found admirers in the Premier League, with several top-flight scouts attending matches. On 30 November 2005, the Shropshire Star newspaper…

Youth levels

Hart made his first international appearance in September 2005 in an England under-19 friendly match against Belgium at Darlington; replacing starting goalkeeper Ben Alnwick at half-time, he was unable to save the penalty that made the score 3–2, but with three minutes left made a "terrific one on one save" from an unmarked attacker. He played in five more matches for the under-19s, his last a 1–0 defeat away to Serbia and Montenegro on 22 May 2006. After making his under-21 debut as a substitute for Scott Carson in a 2–2 draw with Spain, Hart was selected by Stuart Pearce in the 30-man preliminary squad for the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, and made the final 23. In the team's final friendly before the finals, Hart was selected for his first under-21 start, and played the full 90 minutes in a 5–0 win over Slovakia at Carrow Road. However, Hart took no part in the finals, with Carson playing in all four of England's fixtures. Hart played in all the qualifying matches for the 2009 European Championships, In the finals, he started the first two group-stage matches and was rested for the last match as England had already sealed their passage to the knock-out stage. In the semi-final against Sweden, he conceded three goals in the second half as the match ended 3–3 after extra time, but made up for it by saving a penalty and scoring another as England won 5–4 in the shoot-out. However, he was yellow-carded for leaving his line to talk to Mikael…

Considered to be one of England's and the Premier League's best goalkeepers in his prime, Hart was known in particular for his exceptional speed and shot-stopping ability, as well as his ability to rush off his line quickly and utilise his large frame to stop opponents' shots in one on one situations. In 2015, Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon labelled Hart as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. However, Hart also came under criticism from pundits and managers throughout his career for his perceived poor distribution, positioning, and ability to defend crosses, as well as for his inconsistency and tendency to commit technical errors, in particular following some high–profile mistakes on long range shots at Euro 2016, after which he suffered a noticeable decline in the level of his performances.

Hart was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, to Charles Hart, who sold gym equipment, and his wife Louise, a nursery school teacher. He attended Oxon Primary School, followed by Meole Brace School in Shrewsbury, where he was head boy in his final year. As a schoolboy, he was an equally competent cricketer and briefly played for Shrewsbury CC in the Birmingham and District Premier League and also spent two years in Worcestershire's youth squads, playing alongside England cricketer Steven Davies.