Squad no: 1

Date of birth: 19/04/1987

Place of Birth: Shrewsbury

Position: Goalkeeper

Height (ft): 6.05

Weight (st): 14.05

Joe Hart signed for Manchester City in May 2006 from Shrewsbury Town in a deal which could rise to £1.5million.

His professional career with the Shrews began in the 2003/04 season, when he played a handful of games, before eventually becoming first choice keeper in the 2005/06 campaign.

Joe had been capped at Under 19 level for England and his impressive form during the 2005/06 season caught the eye to secure a move to the City of Manchester Stadium.

Hart made his first team debut on October 14th, 2006, against Sheffield United after Nicky Weaver pulled out injured, looking very composed in the 0-0 draw.

Our young keeper moved to Tranmere Rovers on a month's loan at the start of January 2007 and by the start of February Joe had been picked for England's Under 21s for the first time. He subsequently made a second half appearance against Spain at Pride Park in a 2-2 draw.

Joe then played a big part in Blackpool's successful push from Division One into the Championship. The Tangerines were unbeaten in the five games Joe played for them on loan at the very end of the season, and this run allowed Simon Grayson's team to cement a place in the play-off positions.

The keeper capped a great first season at City by being called up to the England Under 21 squad for the European Championships in Holland, and he made his first start in the warm-up game against Slovakia.

A finger injury in early August 2007 saw Joe drop down the pecking order slightly at City, but he was picked for the Carling Cup tie at Bristol City, where he made a world-class save when the game was still finely balanced. After another run-out in the same competition, Joe was starting in the Premier League in the 3-1 win at home to Newcastle. After some impressive performances, Sven-Goran Eriksson made Joe his number one keeper just before Christmas 2007.

His stock continued to rise & rise, and after taking the Thomas Cook Player of the Month award for February, he was voted as the OSC's Young Player of the Year at the end of the season. A memorable year was capped when he made his full international debut as a substitute in England's easy 3-0 win over Trinidad & Tobago on June 1st.