Craig Halkett

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Craig Halkett
Personal information
Full name Craig Peter Halkett [1]
Date of birth (1995-05-29) 29 May 1995 (age 29)
Place of birth Kirkintilloch, Scotland [1]
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
Heart of Midlothian
Number 4
Youth career
Rosebank United [2]
2010–2014 Rangers
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2014–2016 Rangers 0 (0)
2014Clyde (loan) 12 (0)
2015Berwick Rangers (loan) 4 (0)
2016–2019 Livingston 117 (16)
2019– Heart of Midlothian 92 (4)
International career
2014 Scotland U19 [3] 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 3 February 2024 (UTC)

Craig Peter Halkett (born 29 May 1995) is a Scottish footballer who plays as defender for Scottish Premiership club Heart of Midlothian.

Contents

Initially a striker in his youth, Halkett joined Rangers at age 14 before being moved to defensive roles and being loaned out to Scottish League Two clubs Clyde and Berwick Rangers. After being released by Rangers, Halkett spent several years at Livingston, making over 100 appearances, before signing a contract with Heart of Midlothian in 2019.

Club career

Rangers

Raised in Kirkintilloch and a boyhood Rangers fan, [4] [5] [6] Halkett joined the club as a youngster. Initially playing as a striker, he was moved into more defensive roles by youth coach Alan Kernaghan. [5] After winning the Scottish Youth Cup in 2014, [7] [5] he was loaned out twice, to Clyde [8] and Berwick Rangers, [9] both playing in the fourth tier.

Livingston

In January 2016, Halkett was informed by Rangers that there was no immediate prospect of him progressing to the first team and he left the Ibrox club without having made a senior appearance, joining then Scottish Championship side Livingston. [5] [10] He scored his first professional goal against Rangers in a 1–0 win for Livingston on 26 April 2016. [11]

The Lions were relegated from the Championship at the end of his first campaign in a play-off, but Halkett became an increasingly important player for the West Lothian side, helping them to immediately return from League One in 2016–17, [12] followed by a second consecutive promotion to the Scottish Premiership after finishing runners-up in the regular season, once more via the play-offs. [13]

Halkett was made club captain, and was an important part of Livingston's 2018–19 season, with the team's defence gaining much praise with the relatively few number of goals conceded compared to similarly-placed teams in the league. [14]

Hearts

In April 2019, Halkett signed a pre-contract agreement with Hearts. [15] He suffered a knee injury in October 2019, and it was announced he would be out for 10 weeks. [16]

On 11 January 2022, Halkett signed a new two-and-a-half-year contract with Hearts, keeping him at the club until the end of the 2023–24 season. [17]

International career

Halkett represented Scotland once, at under-19 level in 2014. [3] He received his first call-up to the senior Scotland squad in March 2022. [18]

Career statistics

As of 12 February 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeague Scottish Cup League Cup OtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Rangers 2014–15 [19] Scottish Championship 0000000000
2015–16 [20] Scottish Championship0000000000
Total0000000000
Clyde (loan) 2014–15 [21] Scottish League Two 100200000120
Berwick Rangers 2015–16 [20] Scottish League Two4000000040
Livingston 2015–16 [20] Scottish Championship15100002 [lower-alpha 1] 1172
2016–17 [22] Scottish League One 33120404 [lower-alpha 2] 0431
2017–18 [23] Scottish Championship357206160498
2018–19 [24] Scottish Premiership 347105000407
Total117165015112114918
Heart of Midlothian 2019–20 [25] Scottish Premiership232515400337
2020–21 [26] Scottish Championship270002100291
2021–22 [27] Scottish Premiership282405000372
2022–23 [28] Scottish Premiership6000002080
2023–24 [29] Scottish Premiership80200000100
Total9241111252011710
Career total2232018127614128228
  1. Appearances in the Championship play-offs
  2. Appearances in the Scottish Challenge Cup

Honours

Rangers Academy

Livingston

Heart of Midlothian

Individual

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