To celebrate, we’re looking back at Joe Hart’s best moments from his ten glorious years.
1 Coming of Age
Following a season on loan at Birmingham where he was arguably the Premier League’s best goalkeeper, Joe returned to City in the summer of 2010 and announced himself as the new no.1 at White Hart Lane on the opening day of the season.
In a game where Spurs kept City under the cosh for long periods, Joe came to the rescue with a number of stunning saves from Jermain Defoe, Tom Huddlestone and Benoit Assou-Ekotto, earning the Man of the Match award.
He hasn’t looked back since.
2 35 years of hurt ended
That first season as first-choice goalkeeper at the Etihad Stadium ended at Wembley with the first silverware of his career.
Joe was largely untested in the FA Cup final against Stoke, making just the one save from Kenwyne Jones in the 61st minute but he had more than earned his medal on the road to Wembley.
His stunning save from United’s Dimitar Berbatov in the semi-final was just one moment of many from a cup run which ended City’s 35-year wait for a major trophy.
3 Pure emotion
Joe was as much of a frustrated spectator as anyone on the final day of the 2011/12 season when City found themselves 2-1 down to QPR with 25 minutes to go.
We all know what happened next and Hart’s emotional celebrations with Gael Clichy after Sergio Aguero’s winner remain one of the enduring images of the day.
Still gives us goosebumps, this.
4 Golden Boy
Joe is unquestionably one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League era – a fact that is backed up by the number of times he’s picked up the Golden Gloves award.
Only Petr Cech has won the Premier League’s award for most clean sheets as many times as Hart (4) – England’s no.1 last picked up the award in 2014/15 and you wouldn’t bet against him making it a fantastic five next May.
5 King Slayer
What do Raffael, Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic all have in common?
If you said “they all had penalties saved by Joe Hart in the Champions League this season” take the rest of the day off.
Following his stunning save from Zlatan at the Parc des Princes, Joe has now saved the last three spot-kicks he’s faced in Europe’s premier club competition.
Here’s to the next ten years...
