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 lea ...
who plays as a
goalkeeper
In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), 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 i ...
for club
Plymouth Argyle
Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...
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 Foot ...
, where he was part of the team that won the 2020 Scottish Cup final, and spent time out on loan at
Falkirk
Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a 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 resident population of 32,422 at the ...
,
Partick Thistle
Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...
,
Dundee
Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...
(on two separate spells) and Finnish side
HJK Helsinki
Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (), commonly known as HJK Helsinki (), or simply as HJK (), is a Finnish football club based in Helsinki. The club competes in Veikkausliiga, the top division of the Finnish football league system. Founded in 1907, the ...
, with whom he won the
2022 Veikkausliiga
The 2022 Veikkausliiga was the 92nd season of top-tier football in Finland. HJK won the championship for the third consecutive season.
Teams
KTP (relegated after one year in the top flight) were relegated to Ykkönen after finishing at the b ...
and played in the
UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
.
Club career
Celtic
Hazard started his career with
Cliftonville
Cliftonville is a coastal area of Margate in the Thanet District, Thanet district of Kent, England. It includes the Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay estate, built in the 1930s with wide avenues and detached and semi-detached houses with driveways, gar ...
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 Foot ...
, 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 manager of Scottish Premiership club Celtic.
Rodgers began his career as a defender at Ballymena United, where he stayed until h ...
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 club Heart of Midlothian and the Scotland national team.
Gordon started his career with Currie Boys before joining Heart of ...
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 William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...
club
Falkirk
Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a 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 resident population of 32,422 at the ...
. 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 w ...
on 6 February 2018.
Hazard moved on loan to another Scottish Championship club,
Partick Thistle
Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...
, 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
Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...
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 association football, football coach and former player, who was most recently the manager of Dunfermline Athletic F.C., Dunfermline Athletic. McPake played for Livingston F.C., Livingston, Gree ...
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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, 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 (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...
in the
Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
. 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
Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...
. 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. The Northern Irishman subsequently made five appearances in the
Scottish Premiership
The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...
, due to a goalkeeping crisis that involved both the original starter,
Vasilis Barkas
Vasilis Cornelius Barkas (; born 30 May 1994) is a Greek professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Eredivisie club FC Utrecht, Utrecht and the Greece national football team, Gre ...
, and his second-choice,
Scott Bain
Scott Bain (born 22 November 1991) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Falkirk. Bain is an Aberdeen youth product, although never played in a competitive first team Aberdeen game. After playing on loan at E ...
: one of the factors that cost Celtic their tenth consecutive title, as rivals
Rangers
A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to:
* Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...
won the league, instead.
2021–22: HJK loan
Ever since the start of the 2021–22 season, with the appointment of
Ange Postecoglou
Angelos "Ange" Postecoglou ( ; ; born 27 August 1965) is a soccer manager and former player who was most recently manager of club Tottenham Hotspur.
Born in Greece, Postecoglou grew up in Melbourne from the age of five. As a player, he spen ...
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) is an English football pundit and former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
He began his career at his hometown club Shrewsbury Town in the Football Conference and League Two. In ...
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.
After staying in Glasgow for the first part of the season, as he made the match-day squad on a few occasions, on 19 January 2022 Hazard officially joined Finnish side
HJK Helsinki
Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (), commonly known as HJK Helsinki (), or simply as HJK (), is a Finnish football club based in Helsinki. The club competes in Veikkausliiga, the top division of the Finnish football league system. Founded in 1907, the ...
on loan for the rest of year. Hazard made his debut for HJK in a
Finnish League Cup
The Finnish League Cup (in Finnish: ''Liigacup''), is a knock-out football competition contested annually during the pre-season in winter by teams from Veikkausliiga.
The competition is notably the only football competition in Europe which is most ...
match against
Inter Turku
Football Club International Turku, commonly referred to as Inter Turku () and colloquially known as Inter, is a Finnish professional football club based in Turku that competes in the Veikkausliiga, the top flight of Finnish Football. Founded i ...
. Hazard had 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 was 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.
Sevilla defeated Roma in the final pl ...
, ultimately going out in the group stage. The season culminated in winning the
Veikkausliiga
Veikkausliiga () is a professional association football league in Finland and the highest level of the Finnish football league system. The league comprises the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agenc ...
title. Hazard was named as the Goalkeeper of the Year for the 2022 season. He was also named by the club's supporter group as their player of the season.
Plymouth Argyle
On 11 July 2023, Hazard signed for newly promoted
EFL Championship
The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...
side
Plymouth Argyle
Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...
for an undisclosed fee. On 5 August 2023, he made his debut in a 3–1 win against
Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football.
Huddersfield Town we ...
.
On 9 February 2025, Hazard achieved a career highlight in the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
after keeping a clean sheet in a victory over
Premier League
The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
side
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
, when he made two key saves against
Diogo Jota
Diogo José Teixeira da Silva (born 4 December 1996), known as Diogo Jota, is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward or left winger for club Liverpool and the Portugal national team. Jota is known for his clinical finis ...
's volley and
Darwin Núñez
Darwin Gabriel Núñez Ribeiro (; born 24 June 1999) is a Uruguayan professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for club Liverpool F.C., Liverpool and the Uruguay national football team ...
's close-range header in injury time to ensure Plymouth advance into the next stage of the competition.
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
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
. He made his first appearance at full international level for
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
on 3 June 2018, in a 3–0 defeat against
Costa Rica
Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...
Veikkausliiga
Veikkausliiga () is a professional association football league in Finland and the highest level of the Finnish football league system. The league comprises the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agenc ...
:
2022
The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
Individual
*
Veikkausliiga
Veikkausliiga () is a professional association football league in Finland and the highest level of the Finnish football league system. The league comprises the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agenc ...
Goalkeeper of the Year:
2022
The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...