Paul Hartley

Paul James Hartley (born 19 October 1976, in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire) is a Scotland professional footballer, currently playing for Celtic F.C. in the Scottish Premier League.

Football career

Hartley started his career at Hamilton Academical F.C. in 1994, where he spent two seasons. Millwall F.C. paid £400,000 to gain his services in 1996 and he spent one season there, concurrently playing for the Scotland national under-21 football team team. He returned to Scotland in 1997, when he joined Raith Rovers F.C. for £150,000, before joining Hibernian F.C. in 1998, whom he helped win the Scottish First Division in 1998-99 in Scottish football.

In season 1999-00 in Scottish football he spent a short spell on loan at Greenock Morton F.C.. Soon after he joined St. Johnstone F.C., but was unable to stop them being relegated from the Premier League.

During his time at St. Johnstone, then manager Billy Stark played Hartley as a central midfielder, the player having previously played mostly as a peripheral winger. This change of position coincided with a significant upturn in Hartley's performances and he returned to top-level competition in 2003, signing for Hearts F.C. on a free transfer when his contract in Perth, Scotland expired. Revelling in his new role, Hartley continued to improve at Tynecastle, helping Hearts to third place in the Premier League in 2003-04 in Scottish football and starring in their subsequent UEFA Cup run.

In January 2005, Celtic F.C. attempted to buy Hartley, however their £300,000 offer was considered significantly below Hearts valuation and was quickly rejected. Hartley subsequently signed an improved contract with Hearts.

Hartley's performances earned him international recognition in March 2005, when he won his first Scotland national football team cap (football) against Italy national football team. He has subsequently earned a further 10 caps, scoring his first international goal in Scotland's 3-0 win over Slovenia national football team in October 2005.

One of Hartley's most memorable performances was his three goals against Hearts' arch rivals Hibernian in the Scottish Cup semi-final in 2006, his first hat-trick as a professional footballer. However, he was sent off in the final, although Hearts eventually emerged victorious, defeating Second Division outfit Gretna F.C. on penalties.

During the January 2007 transfer window Hartley was linked with a move to Rangers and with a move to English Premiership side Aston Villa F.C., now managed by Martin O'Neill, who was behind the unsuccessful Celtic bid in 2005. Hearts manger Valdas Ivanauskas responded to the speculation by insisting any transfer bids would not be appreciated.
On 26 January, Hearts and Ivanauskas admitted that they had now come to the decision to sell their prize assets and both Hartley and Craig Gordon were both dropped for that weekend's match against Rangers. Hartley eventually snubbed Rangers and signed for their arch rivals and his boyhood heroes Celtic for £1.1 million on a two-and-a-half-year contract, with the option for a further year on the 31 January, 2007 On the 15th of August he scored his first goal for the hoops in the first leg of their Champions League 3rd round qualifier against Russian league leaders Spartak Moscow..

Honours

- Scottish Premier League: 2006-07
- Scottish Cup: 2006, 2007
- Scottish First Division: 1998-99