Joe Hart was able to rediscover his love for football after moving to Celtic, and the team gave him the freedom to leave the professional game whenever he wanted.
The former Hoops top player will always be appreciative of it.
He played backup roles for Burnley and Tottenham Hotspur in the previous seasons before joining the Glasgow giants under Ange Postecoglou in 2021.
With a career spanning nearly 20 years, Hart has 12 championships to his name and was once Manchester City’s key man.
However, he believes that relocating to Celtic in the north offered him the exceptional opportunity to cap off his playing career on a positive note.
“It felt right,” he said in an interview with High Performance Podcast. “If I look at my career the majority of my career has been as a number one, it’s been playing well, it’s been lifting trophies, so it felt right.”
The former England goalkeeper claimed he had never felt more special in his career after his final Celtic match, in which he assisted in winning the Scottish Cup and completing a domestic double.
The 37-year-old then gave an explanation for his remarks, saying, “I decided to finish because football is a fast-paced industry, so I had to do something really unique.”
“I wanted to take pride in the idea that I would succeed. I wanted to end my football career with a really unique football club because I loved them more than anything else in the game, and I told people about it early.
I’m not sure if they have anything to give me. I spoke from the heart about something and didn’t even feel the need to include those chess moves.
“And it might not have gone well; when I said it, we were probably in second place in the league, and we had our biggest rivals waiting for us in the cup final. In my last season, I might have left the show without a plot. But all I wanted was for everyone to know that even though I was coming to an end, I wanted to go out on top, and I did.
“I found a great rhythm, the group gelled, Brendan got us playing the way he wanted, we found our identity, and we were beginning to play really well.
“The club’s buzz is unmatched when you are performing well, regardless of how many trophies they win. There was just an amazing vibe, with the drums beating, the fans singing, and the flares going off.
“After then, they asked me to spend the night with Joe Hart, and I said yes right away since I had stated that I didn’t want to talk about retiring; instead, I wanted to accomplish the necessary tasks, say the necessary things, and handle the press that day.
“Because winning the league and the team come first. A month ago, they invited me to spend the evening with Joe Hart. I said no, but then I thought, ‘You know what? Throw that away. They responded, “We would love to do that for you,” to the statement, “You were willing to do that for me.”
“I exclaimed, ‘Wow, that was just wonderful. Even though I don’t feel like doing it, I will because it is special that you have come here and asked me to. Tell me what needs to be done, please.
“So we did a night with Joe Hart, it feels weird talking about my name but that’s what it was.”
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