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 Scotland national team.

Gordon started his career with Heart of Midlothian.

That season he was voted Scottish Football Writers' Association Player of the Year, becoming the first Hearts player to win the award since Sandy Jardine in 1986 and also the first goalkeeper since Rangers' Andy Goram in 1993.

Born in Edinburgh, Gordon attended Balerno Community High School from 1994 until 1999.

His father, David Gordon, played in goal for several East of Scotland clubs, and Gordon spent many Saturday afternoons as a child watching him play.

Gordon started off his own career as a goalkeeper at local team Currie Boys Football Club, and then went on to join and graduate from the Heart of Midlothian (Hearts) youth development programme.

He won the Scottish Youth Cup in 1999–2000, with Hearts beating Rangers 5–3 at Hampden Park and the SPL Under-18 League in 2000–01, both under the management of John McGlynn.

He spent time on loan at Cowdenbeath (in 2001–02), before establishing himself as Hearts' first-choice keeper between 2003 and 2007, winning the Scottish Cup in 2005–06.

Gordon was loaned to lower league club Cowdenbeath in 2001.

In his time there, he continued to train regularly with Hearts, but spent two nights a week training with Cowdenbeath.

His first professional game was at Forthbank against Stirling Albion, and he went on to make a total of 13 appearances before being recalled by Hearts.

Cowdenbeath went undefeated in their home games during Gordon's time there, and he won praise for an outstanding performance in an away league match in Dumfries versus Queen of the South which ended 3–1.

Divisional champions that season, Queens, dominated the game, but Gordon's saves thwarted them time and again, with opposition manager John Connolly describing Gordon's performance as "sensational".

Gordon made his debut for Hearts in a 1–1 draw with Livingston on 6 October 2002.

His one other appearance that season was in a 4–0 defeat against Falkirk on 25 January 2003 in the third round of the Scottish Cup.

Over the course of the following season, 2003–04 season, he edged out Tepi Moilanen as the regular Hearts goalkeeper, playing in 29 of Hearts' league fixtures.

Gordon made his first appearance in European competition on 6 November 2003, playing in the first leg of Hearts' UEFA Cup second round tie in France against Bordeaux.

He performed well and kept a clean sheet in an impressive 1–0 win for Hearts.

Despite that result, Heart lost the return leg 2–0 in Edinburgh to go out on aggregate.

His performances that year resulted in him being short-listed for the Scottish PFA Young Player of the Year award, which was eventually won by then Celtic midfielder Stephen Pearson.

Gordon did win SFWA Young Player of the Year and SPL Young Player of the Year accolades for 2003–04.

He was selected as SPL Young Player of the Month too for December 2003.

Manager Craig Levein praised Gordon for his performances, stating that he had a "brilliant" season and that whilst Levein initially only intended to play him in a handful of games, "he did so well that I couldn't take him out [of the first team]."

Gordon was the regular goalkeeper for the Scotland national football team between 2004 and 2010, before injuries interrupted his career, and returned to the national set-up in 2014.

Gordon signed a new three-year contract with the club in August 2004.

In his first full season as first choice goalkeeper, Hearts qualified for the UEFA Cup after they finished third behind champions Celtic and Rangers.

The team qualified for the group stages of the UEFA Cup beating Braga on aggregate 5–3.

Hearts also reached the semi-finals of both the Scottish Cup (beaten by Motherwell after extra time) and Scottish League Cup (beaten by Celtic) in season 2004–05.

Gordon had become a Scotland regular by 2005 and his consistent displays during the 2005–06 season helped Hearts to a second-place finish in the Scottish Premier League and victory in the Scottish Cup.

The trophy was won in a penalty shootout against Gretna following a 1–1 draw, with Gordon saving opponent Derek Townsley's penalty.

He kept a clean-sheet in a 4–0 win against Edinburgh derby rivals Hibernian in the semi-final.

Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov rejected an approach from Serie A side Palermo for Gordon earlier in the season.

Gordon has been voted the SFWA Footballer of the Year three times, in 2006, 2015 and 2022, and was voted SPL and SFWA Young Player of the Year in 2004.

For much of the 2006–07 season rumours linked Gordon with a move away from Tynecastle, particularly following his involvement in the issuing of a statement against club owner Vladimir Romanov.

English Premier League club Sunderland bought him in 2007 for £9 million (then the British transfer record fee for a goalkeeper).

Gordon suffered serious injuries during his time with Sunderland and was released from his contract in 2012.

After two years out of the game, Gordon signed for Celtic in July 2014.

He won five Scottish league titles, two Scottish Cups and four Scottish League Cups with Celtic, including domestic trebles in 2016–17, 2017–18 and 2018–19.

He made the Scottish FA International Roll of Honour, having made his 50th full international appearance for Scotland in 2017.

He left Celtic and returned to Hearts in June 2020.