Michael Hart (born 10 February 1980) is a retired Scottish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

, Hibernian,

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

Airdrie United Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United ...

and

Huntly Huntly ( gd, Srath Bhalgaidh or ''Hunndaidh'') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, formerly known as Milton of Strathbogie or simply Strathbogie. It had a population of 4,460 in 2004 and is the site of Huntly Castle. Its neighbouring settlemen ...

Career

Hart came through the ranks at

and made his debut in a 1–1 draw with

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...

in 1998. He made a total of 19 first team appearances before moving on to

on loan in 2000. His move to Livingston was made permanent in July 2001 and he helped them to a third-place finish in their first season in the SPL, which gave them qualification for the

2002–03 UEFA Cup The 2002–03 UEFA Cup was the 32nd edition of the UEFA Cup, the second-tier European club football tournament organised by UEFA. The final was played between Portuguese side Porto and Scottish side Celtic at the Estadio Olímpico de Sevilla, Sev ...

. Hart returned to Aberdeen in February 2003 and, after a shaky start, established himself as a fleet-footed, quick tackling right back. He missed most of the 2005–06 season due to a knee injury, featuring in only four matches. He came back into the team for the 2006–07 season and featured in almost every game, helping the club to a third-place finish in the league. In July 2007, Hart was involved in a car crash whilst on tour with Aberdeen in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, along with team-mate Jamie Smith. Neither player was seriously hurt. In January 2008, Hart signed a pre-contract agreement with

and was expected to move to

Deepdale Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England, the home of Preston North End. Deepdale is "widely recognised as being the oldest 'continuously used' football stadium in the world, though this is contested". History ...

at the end of the season. However, on 31 January, Preston had an offer thought to be £100,000 accepted for the right-back. Hart then suffered from a succession of injuries, making only 25 appearances for Preston in over two years with the club. Preston manager

Darren Ferguson Darren Ferguson (born 9 February 1972) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player, who was most recently the manager of Championship club Peterborough United. In between his stints with Peterborough, he also managed Preston N ...

listed Hart for transfer in May 2010. Hart returned to Scotland in July 2010, with Hibernian, after his contract with Preston was cancelled. Hart's preferred position of right back had been a significant problem for Hibs during the previous season. He had been a target for Hibs manager John Hughes, who had been unable to sign him previously for "different reasons". Shortly after signing, Hart scored his first goal for 12 years and his first ever in club football, in a friendly against

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation f ...

. Hart suffered a serious groin injury in a friendly match against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

in August 2011. He made a handful of appearances for Hibs in the 2011–12 season, before he was released from his contract by mutual consent on 31 January 2012. Hart then signed for

on a short-term contract until the end of the 2011–12 season. He joined

in July 2012, but left in November the same year to pursue a full-time career outwith football.

signed Hart on 20 February 2013. But on 20 September 2013 Hart retired from football.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

References

External links

Michael Hart player profile
at pnefc.net * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, Michael 1980 births Living people Footballers from Bellshill Scottish footballers Men's association football defenders Aberdeen F.C. players Livingston F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Football League players English Football League players People educated at Holy Cross High School, Hamilton St Johnstone F.C. players Airdrieonians F.C. players Huntly F.C. players Highland Football League players