Conor_Hazard

Conor Hazard

Conor Hazard

Northern Irish footballer

Conor William Hazard (born 5 March 1998) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for EFL Championship club Plymouth Argyle and the Northern Ireland national team.

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He previously played for Celtic, where he was part of the team that won the 2020 Scottish Cup final, and spent time out on loan at Falkirk, Partick Thistle, Dundee (on two separate spells) and Finnish side HJK Helsinki, with whom he won the 2022 Veikkausliiga.

Club career

Celtic

Hazard started his career with Cliftonville before joining Celtic, his boyhood club,[3] in July 2014.[4]

At the beginning of the 2017–18 season, Brendan Rodgers promoted Hazard to the Celtic first-team squad as third choice goalkeeper behind Craig Gordon and Dorus de Vries. On 8 September 2017, Hazard signed a new four-year contract with the then Scottish champions.[5]

Loans

In January 2018, Hazard moved on loan to Scottish Championship club Falkirk.[6] He made his professional debut in a 3–1 victory over Brechin City on 6 February 2018.[7]

Hazard moved on loan to another Scottish Championship club, Partick Thistle, in January 2019.[8] He helped his side reach the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup, taking Hearts to a replay where Hazard saved a penalty kick but conceded a late goal, the team ultimately losing 2–1 to exit the tournament.[9]

Hazard joined Dundee on an emergency loan in October 2019, replacing regular starter Jack Hamilton who was out after having his appendix removed.[10] Hazard played five games with Dundee before returning to Celtic in November following Hamilton's return.[11] After impressing Dundee manager James McPake during his short stint with the club, Hazard was brought back to the Dark Blues on loan for the rest of the season in January.[12] Hazard again took the starting spot in February, and only conceded one goal in his next six games, grabbing five consecutive clean sheets in the process. However, both Hazard's and Dundee's great run was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, causing the season to be ended early in April 2020.[13]

2020–21

Hazard made his competitive debut for Celtic on 10 December 2020, in a 3–2 win over Lille in the Europa League. He made a good save near the end of the game from Isaac Lihadji to deny the French side an equaliser.[14][15] He made his first appearance for Celtic in the Scottish League three days later, keeping a clean sheet in a 2–0 win over Kilmarnock.[16] Hazard started the 2020 Scottish Cup Final against Hearts. The match finished 3–3 after extra time before Celtic won the game in a penalty shootout, during which Hazard saved two penalties from Stephen Kingsley and Craig Wighton.[17][18] The Northern Irishman subsequently made five appearances in the Scottish Premiership, due to a goalkeeping crisis that involved both the original starter, Vasilis Barkas, and his second-choice, Scott Bain: one of the factors that cost Celtic their tenth consecutive title, as rivals Rangers won the league, instead.[19]

2021–22 and a new loan move

Ever since the start of the 2021–22 season, with the appointment of Ange Postecoglou as the new Celtic manager, Hazard found himself at the bottom of the pecking order between the sticks of the Hoops (together with Barkas), as Joe Hart became the first-choice goalkeeper immediately after his signing, with Bain being confirmed as the main reserve and Tobi Oluwayemi being promoted to the first team.[19]

After staying in Glasgow for the first part of the season, as he made the match-day squad on a few occasions, on January 19, 2022 Hazard officially joined Finnish side HJK Helsinki on loan for the rest of year.[20][21] Hazard would make his debut for HJK in a Finnish League Cup match against Inter Turku.[22] Hazard would have a successful season in goal for HJK both domestically and in Europe. He started in 24 league matches and 13 European matches, as HJK qualified for the 2022–23 UEFA Europa League, ultimately going out in the group stage.[23] The season culminated in winning the Veikkausliiga title.[24] Hazard would be named as the Goalkeeper of the Season for the 2022 season.[25]

Plymouth Argyle

On 11 July 2023 Hazard signed for newly promoted EFL Championship side Plymouth Argyle for an undisclosed fee.[26]

International career

Hazard made his debut for the Northern Ireland under-19 team on 26 March 2016 at Sportpark Parkzicht in a 1–0 defeat to the Netherlands.[27] He made his first appearance at full international level for Northern Ireland on 3 June 2018, in a 3–0 defeat against Costa Rica.[28]

Career statistics

As of 5 March 2024
More information Club, Season ...
  1. Appearances in the Europa League
  2. Appearances in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League

Honours

Celtic

HJK

Individual

References

  1. [1]
    "European Championship 2020: Booking List before Qualifying Round Matchday 10" (PDF). UEFA. 17 November 2019. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  2. [2]
    "C. Hazard". Soccerway. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  3. [3]
    "Reluctant goalie Conor Hazard making big progress at Celtic". Irish News. 12 September 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  4. [4]
    "Academy confirm first summer signing". Celtic. 20 May 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  5. [5]
    "Conor Hazard signs new four-year contract with Celtic". Celtic. 8 September 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  6. [6]
    "Conor Hazard joins Falkirk on loan". Celtic. 25 January 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  7. [7]
    "Falkirk 3–1 Brechin City". BBC Sport. 6 February 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  8. [8]
    "Partick Thistle sign Livingston defender Steven Saunders & Celtic keeper Conor Hazard on loan". BBC Sport. 3 January 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  9. [9]
    "Heart of Midlothian v Partick Thistle – 12th March 2019". ptfc.co.uk. 13 March 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  10. [10]
    "Conor joins". Dundee FC. 24 October 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  11. [11]
    "Jack's back". Dundee FC. 29 November 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  12. [12]
    "Conor returns". Dundee FC. 27 January 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  13. [13]
    "SPFL Resolution Approved By Clubs In All Four Divisions". SPFL.co.uk. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  14. [14]
    Lindsay, Clive (10 December 2020). "Celtic 3 - 2 Lille". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  15. [15]
    Cairney, James (10 December 2020). "Celtic 3-2 Lille recap - Turnbull marks European debut with goal". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  16. [16]
    "Conor Hazard set for extended Celtic run and new contract as Neil Lennon explains Craig Gordon comparisons with young Northern Ireland keeper". Belfast Telegraph. 14 December 2020. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  17. [17]
    "Celtic 3–3 Hearts". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  18. [18]
    Celtic win fourth straight Scottish Cup as Hazard's shootout saves break Hearts, Ewan Murray, The Guardian, 20 December 2020
  19. [19]
    Davidson, Euan (19 January 2022). "Ange Postecoglou speaks as Conor Hazard departs Celtic on loan". 67 Hail Hail. Archived from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  20. [20]
    Sullivan, Joe (19 January 2022). "Conor Hazard moves to HJK Helsinki on loan". Celtic FC. Archived from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  21. [21]
    "Celticistä uusi maalivahti Klubiin". HJK Helsinki (in Finnish). 19 January 2022. Archived from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  22. [22]
    "HJK vs. Inter Turku - 19 February 2022 - Soccerway". uk.soccerway.com. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  23. [23]
    "Conor Hazard".
  24. [24]
    "HJK on Suomen mestari 2022! Kapteeni Miro Tenho huudatti kannattajia Valkeakoskella – "Katso nyt tuota menoa!"". Yle Urheilu (in Finnish). 9 October 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  25. [25]
    Liimatta, Ville (1 December 2022). "Vuoden 2022 Captain's Ball: Kaikki voittajat ja palkitut kootusti". SuomiFutis (in Finnish). Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  26. [26]
    "Plymouth Argyle sign NI keeper Hazard from Celtic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  27. [27]
    "Netherlands U19 v Northern Ireland U19 Starting XIs, 26/03/2016, UEFA U19 Championship". goal.com. 26 March 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  28. [28]
    Ferguson, Paul (4 June 2018). "Celtic stopper Hazard keen to kick on with Northern Ireland after international debut". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  29. [29]
    Liimatta, Ville (1 December 2023). "Vuoden 2022 Captain's Ball: Kaikki voittajat ja palkitut kootusti". SuomiFutis (in Finnish). Retrieved 1 February 2023.
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