Conor Hazard

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Conor Hazard
FC Salzburg gegen Celtic FC (4. Oktober 2918 Gruppe B, 42. Spieltag).jpg
Conor Hazard training for Celtic in 2018.
Personal information
Full name Conor William Hazard [1]
Date of birth (1998-03-05) 5 March 1998 (age 26)
Place of birth Downpatrick, Northern Ireland
Height 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) [2]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
Plymouth Argyle
Number 21
Youth career
Cliftonville
2014–2017 Celtic
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2017–2023 Celtic 5 (0)
2018Falkirk (loan) 11 (0)
2019Partick Thistle (loan) 11 (0)
2019Dundee (loan) 5 (0)
2020Dundee (loan) 6 (0)
2022HJK Helsinki (loan) 24 (0)
2023– Plymouth Argyle 27 (0)
International career
2013 Northern Ireland U16 5 (0)
2014 Northern Ireland U17 3 (0)
2015–2016 Northern Ireland U19 3 (0)
2018–2019 Northern Ireland U21 12 (0)
2018– Northern Ireland 8 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:00, 5 March 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 21:44, 22 March 2024 (UTC)

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.

Contents

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
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition [2]
ClubSeasonLeagueNational CupLeague CupOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Celtic 2017–18 Scottish Premiership 0000000000
2018–19 Scottish Premiership0000000000
2019–20 Scottish Premiership0010000010
2020–21 Scottish Premiership5000001 [lower-alpha 1] 060
Total5010001070
Falkirk (loan) 2017–18 Scottish Championship 110100000120
Partick Thistle (loan) 2018–19 Scottish Championship110400000150
Dundee (loan) 2019–20 Scottish Championship5000000050
Dundee (loan) 2019–20 Scottish Championship6000000060
HJK Helsinki (loan) 2022 Veikkausliiga 240001014 [lower-alpha 2] 0390
Plymouth Argyle 2023–24 EFL Championship 270300000300
Career total89090101501140
  1. Appearances in the Europa League
  2. Appearances in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League

Honours

Celtic

HJK

Individual

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References

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  4. "Academy confirm first summer signing". Celtic. 20 May 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  5. "Conor Hazard signs new four-year contract with Celtic". Celtic. 8 September 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
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  7. "Falkirk 3–1 Brechin City". BBC Sport. 6 February 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
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  9. "Heart of Midlothian v Partick Thistle – 12th March 2019". ptfc.co.uk. 13 March 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  10. "Conor joins". Dundee FC. 24 October 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  11. "Jack's back". Dundee FC. 29 November 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
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  13. "SPFL Resolution Approved By Clubs In All Four Divisions". SPFL.co.uk. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  14. Lindsay, Clive (10 December 2020). "Celtic 3 - 2 Lille". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  15. Cairney, James (10 December 2020). "Celtic 3-2 Lille recap - Turnbull marks European debut with goal". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  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. "Celtic 3–3 Hearts". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  18. 1 2 Celtic win fourth straight Scottish Cup as Hazard's shootout saves break Hearts, Ewan Murray, The Guardian, 20 December 2020
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  21. "Celticistä uusi maalivahti Klubiin". HJK Helsinki (in Finnish). 19 January 2022. Archived from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
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