Celtic's goalkeeping history since the Jock Stein era is not perhaps as gilded as that which attaches to all the outfield positions.

Indeed, it was reckoned that Stein had a bit of a blind spot concerning those green and yellow-shirted sentinels of the six-yard box.  Such was Ronnie Simpson’s greatness with the Lisbon Lions that other keepers in the next couple of decades were perhaps too harshly judged in comparison.

My dad always felt that John Fallon, who was Simpson’s deputy, was also an excellent goalkeeper, which he showed on many occasions when he was asked to deputise. However, one calamitous afternoon in a 2-2 draw with Rangers at Parkhead in the late 60s when he was at fault for both their goals, coloured many fans’ view of him. 

Evan Williams eventually succeeded Simpson and did well, although he was never spectacular. Few Celtic supporters are aware that Williams won the official man-of-the-match award in the 1970 European Cup final.

Following Williams’ departure we had Alistair Hunter and Denis Connaghan, both of whom were decent goalkeepers without ever becoming fan favourites. Celtic’s all-out attacking style usually saw them dominate matches and so there were fewer opportunities for a goalkeeper to shine. I think this made it much more difficult for our goalkeepers to attain hero status. 

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I think, too, that while Celtic’s outfield transfer targets were established players who excelled for other clubs such as Harry Hood, Joe McBride, Willie Wallace, Dixie Deans and Ronnie Glavin, the club somehow didn’t think the goalkeeping position was sufficiently important to spend money on stars. That if the team did the business in the outfield it didn’t really matter if your goalkeeper made the odd howler. 

Yet Peter Latchford, a largely unknown Englishman with an unremarkable CV, became a cult figure among the Celtic support in the late 70s. He was bulky and so, whenever he made a good save, it looked more heroic than it actually was because you were never really expecting it. No pre-match warm-up was complete until big Peter had given the Jungle a shy wave. He had that unfathomable charisma with which some players are blessed and which often makes the supporters forgive and forget their errors more readily than others’. 

Latchford’s successor was Pat Bonner. I actually attended Bonner’s debut, a 2-1 home win against Motherwell. Curiously, despite making a record number of appearances for Celtic over the next decade or so, views about him are mixed.

Yet he had some marvellous games in a career which saw him win four league medals and two Scottish Cups. I think he too was sometimes bedevilled by the sense that, as he didn’t often have that much to do, whatever he was compelled to do should be devoid of any error whatsoever. 

Celtic Way:

I think the era of ‘superstar’ goalkeepers really started with Artur Boruc. It helped that the big man was sometimes madder than a bag of monkeys. I would say that Boruc has been, technically, our best goalkeeper since Ronnie Simpson. He performed heroics in some massive Champions League nights and has his own penalty kick showreel featuring around a dozen saves from the spot. 

Since then, most Celtic keepers have been from the very top drawer: Craig Gordon, Fraser Forster and now Joe Hart. I know Celtic bought Joe when his best days were considered to be behind him but, if you look at the playing life expectancy of keepers, they actually got him near the peak of his game.

I love the fact that we’ve got a keeper who, not that long ago, was England’s number one. And anyone who thinks that England’s goalkeepers since then have been a massive improvement is kidding themselves.

Hart is also blessed with a big, charismatic personality and it’s clear in his rapport with both his colleagues and supporters that he is absolutely loving this second birth in his career. I think some have tended to judge him unfairly owing to a few eccentric kick-outs. Here, though, it should be taken into account that he’s probably the first Celtic goalkeeper who’s now genuinely expected to be adept at playing from the back and being a confident passer of the ball. 

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Anyone who doubts his fitness at this level – given his age – should worry no more. His save at 1-0 against Hearts in the Scottish Cup win at Tynecastle is one of the best I’ve seen from any Celtic goalkeeper in recent years. He got down to that shot brilliantly, given that it was struck from just a few feet out. His reflexes and fitness then allowed him to get back up and claw it to safety, knowing that he would be clouted by an onrushing Hearts attacker. 

There are those who say that he doesn’t save penalties and, considering that Celtic are penalised often by Scotland’s forensic referees, this might be regarded as an area of weakness. However, you don’t sign goalkeepers based on their prowess at saving spot kicks. You sign them for their ability to make saves like Hart made on Saturday afternoon. That and the confidence they instil in the men who play immediately in front of them. 

And Hart – like Forster, Gordon and the Holy Goalie - does that effortlessly. He has what football people call ‘presence’. It's been one of the fundamental differences between these last two seasons and the Covid one.

Long may big Joe reign between the posts. No matter how many more games he plays for Celtic, or how few, he will be remembered fondly.