Paul Hartley

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Personal information
Paul Hartley

Full name	Paul Hartley
Date of birth	October 19, 1976 (age 30)
Place of birth	Glasgow, Scotland
Height	5' 8"
Nickname	Zico
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Celtic
Number	11
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1994-1996 1996-1997 1997-1998 1998-2000 1999-2000 2000-2003 2003-2007 2007-	Hamilton Academical Millwall Raith Rovers Hibernian → Greenock Morton (loan) St Johnstone Hearts Celtic	047 (11) 044 0(4) 050 (13) 036 0(6) 003 0(1) 087 (12) 118 (31) 003 0(0)
National team²
2005-	Scotland	011 0(1)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:27, 24 March 2007 (UTC). ² National team caps and goals correct as of 11 October 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Paul Hartley (born 19 October 1976, in Glasgow) is a Scottish professional footballer, currently playing for Celtic in the Scottish Premier League.

Hartley started his career at Hamilton Academical in 1994, where he spent two seasons. Millwall paid £400,000 to gain his services in 1996 and he spent one season there, concurrently playing for the Scotland U21 team. He returned to Scotland in 1997, when he joined Raith Rovers for £150,000, before joining Hibernian in 1998, whom he helped win the First Division in 1998-99.

In season 1999-2000 he spent a short spell on loan at Greenock Morton. Soon after he joined St Johnstone, 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 on a free transfer when his contract in Perth expired. Revelling in his new role, Hartley continued to improve at Tynecastle, helping Hearts to third place in the Premier League in 2003-04 and starring in their subsequent UEFA Cup run.

In January 2005, Celtic 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 cap against Italy. He has subsequently earned a further 10 caps, scoring his first international goal in Scotland's 3-0 win over Slovenia 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 on penalties.

During the January 2007 transfer window Hartley was linked with a move to Rangers^[1] and with a move to English Premiership side Aston Villa, 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 signed for Celtic on the 31 January 2007. [1]