Conor William Hazard (born 5 March 1998) is a Northern Irish professional
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 ...
who plays as a
goalkeeper
In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...
for
EFL Championship
The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...
club
Plymouth Argyle
Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park ...
and the
Northern Ireland national team
The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. From 1882 to 1920, all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Foo ...
.
He previously played for
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foo ...
, where he was part of the team that won the 2020 Scottish Cup final, and spent time out on loan at
Falkirk
Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow.
Falkirk had a ...
,
Partick Thistle
Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. The club have been mem ...
, Dundee (on two separate spells) and Finnish side
HJK Helsinki
Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (), commonly known as HJK Helsinki, or simply as HJK, is a professional football club based in Helsinki, Finland. The club competes in the Finnish Veikkausliiga. Founded in 1907, the club has spent most of its history ...
, with whom he won the
2022 Veikkausliiga
The 2022 Veikkausliiga is the 92nd season of top-tier football in Finland. HJK are the defending champions.
Teams
KTP (relegated after one year in the top flight) were relegated to Ykkönen after finishing at the bottom of the 2021 season. ...
.
Club career
Celtic
Hazard started his career with
Cliftonville
Cliftonville is a coastal area of the town of Margate, situated to the east of the main town, in the Thanet district of Kent, South East England, United Kingdom. It also contains the area known as Palm Bay.
The original Palm Bay estate was ...
before joining
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foo ...
, his boyhood club, in July 2014.
At the beginning of the 2017–18 season,
Brendan Rodgers
Brendan Rodgers (born 26 January 1973) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Premier League club Leicester City.
Rodgers began his career as a defender at Ballymena United, where he stayed ...
promoted Hazard to the Celtic first-team squad as third choice goalkeeper behind
Craig Gordon
Craig Sinclair Gordon (born 31 December 1982) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Scottish Premiership club Heart of Midlothian, where he is club captain, and the Scottish national team.
Gordon started his ...
and
Dorus de Vries
Dorus de Vries (born 29 December 1980) is a Dutch former footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
De Vries began his professional career in his native the Netherlands with Telstar, before spending three seasons with ADO Den Haag. He moved to Brita ...
. On 8 September 2017, Hazard signed a new four-year contract with the then Scottish champions.
Loans
In January 2018, Hazard moved on loan to
Scottish Championship
The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish Champio ...
club
Falkirk
Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow.
Falkirk had a ...
. He made his professional debut in a 3–1 victory over
Brechin City
Brechin City Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the townDespite the name of the football club, Brechin is not an official city. Brechin was historically known as a city because it has a cathedral. of Brechin in Angus. The club ...
on 6 February 2018.
Hazard moved on loan to another Scottish Championship club,
Partick Thistle
Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. The club have been mem ...
, in January 2019. He helped his side reach the quarter-finals of the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,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.
Hazard joined Dundee on an emergency loan in October 2019, replacing regular starter Jack Hamilton who was out after having his appendix removed. Hazard played five games with Dundee before returning to Celtic in November following Hamilton's return. After impressing Dundee manager
James McPake
James McPake (born 24 June 1984) is a professional football coach and former player, who is currently the manager of Dunfermline Athletic. McPake played for Livingston, Greenock Morton, Coventry City, Hibernian and Dundee. He mainly played ...
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. 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
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
, causing the season to be ended early in April 2020.
2020–21
Hazard made his competitive debut for Celtic on 10 December 2020, in a 3–2 win over
Lille
Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the Nord ...
in the
Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...
. He made a good save near the end of the game from Isaac Lihadji to deny the French side an equaliser. 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. 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
Stephen Iain Kingsley (born 23 July 1994) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays for Scottish Premiership club Heart of Midlothian and the Scottish national team. He has previously played for Falkirk, Swansea City, and Hull City, as ...
and
Craig Wighton
Craig Ross Wighton (born 27 July 1997) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Scottish League One side Dunfermline Athletic. He has previously played for Dundee, Brechin City, Raith Rovers, Arbroath and Heart of Midlo ...
. The Northern Irishman subsequently made five appearances in the
Scottish Premiership
The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...
, due to a goalkeeping crisis that involved both the original starter,
Vasilis Barkas
Vasilis Cornelius Barkas ( el, Βασίλης Μπάρκας; born 30 May 1994) is a Greek international football player who plays as a goalkeeper for Eredivisie club Utrecht, on loan from Scottish Premiership side Celtic, and the Greece natio ...
, and his second-choice,
Scott Bain
Scott Bain (born 22 November 1991) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Celtic. He has previously played for Aberdeen, Elgin City, Alloa Athletic and Dundee.
Club career Aberdeen
Bain began his footballing care ...
: one of the factors that cost Celtic their tenth consecutive title, as rivals
Rangers
A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to:
* Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...
won the league, instead.
2021–22 and a new loan move
Ever since the start of the 2021–22 season, with the appointment of
Ange Postecoglou
Angelos Postecoglou ( el, Άγγελος Ποστέκογλου, ; born 27 August 1965) is an Australian association football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Scottish Premiership club Celtic.
Born in Greece, he moved ...
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
Charles Joseph John Hart (born 19 April 1987) known professionally simply as Joe Hart is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Scottish Premiership club Celtic.
He began his career at his hometown club Shrewsbury ...
became the first-choice goalkeeper immediately after his signing, with Bain being confirmed as the main reserve and
Tobi Oluwayemi
Oluwatobiloba "Tobi" Oluwayemi (born 8 May 2003) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Dunfermline Athletic on loan from Scottish Premiership club Celtic.
Club career
Born and raised in London to parents of N ...
being promoted to the first team.
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
Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (), commonly known as HJK Helsinki, or simply as HJK, is a professional football club based in Helsinki, Finland. The club competes in the Finnish Veikkausliiga. Founded in 1907, the club has spent most of its history ...
on loan for the rest of year. Hazard would make his debut for HJK in a
Finnish League Cup
The Finnish League Cup was a knock-out football competition contested annually during the pre-season in winter by teams from Veikkausliiga. The league cup was abolished after the 2016 tournament and replaced with the Finnish Cup group stage starti ...
match against
Inter Turku
Football Club International Turku, commonly referred to as Inter Turku and colloquially known as Inter, is a professional football club based in Turku, Finland, that competes in the Veikkausliiga, the top flight of Finnish Football. Founded in ...
. 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
The 2022–23 UEFA Europa League is the 52nd season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 14th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.
The final will be played at the Puská ...
, ultimately going out in the group stage. The season culminated in winning the
Veikkausliiga
Veikkausliiga (; sv, Tipsligan) is the premier division of Finnish football, the highest tier of the Finnish football league structure, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikka ...
title. Hazard would be named as the Goalkeeper of the Season for the 2022 season.
Plymouth Argyle
On 11 July 2023 Hazard signed for newly promoted
EFL Championship
The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...
side
Plymouth Argyle
Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park ...
for an undisclosed fee.
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
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
. He made his first appearance at full international level for
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...
on 3 June 2018, in a 3–0 defeat against Costa Rica.
Veikkausliiga
Veikkausliiga (; sv, Tipsligan) is the premier division of Finnish football, the highest tier of the Finnish football league structure, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikka ...
:
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeyp ...
Individual
*
Veikkausliiga
Veikkausliiga (; sv, Tipsligan) is the premier division of Finnish football, the highest tier of the Finnish football league structure, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikka ...
Goalkeeper of the Year:
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeyp ...