Paul Hartley

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

Hartley started his career at Hamilton Academical in 1994, where he spent two seasons. Milwall 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 1999/2000. He joined St Johnstone in 2000 but was unable to stop them being relegated from the Premier League.

During his time at St Johnstone, Paul reinvented himself as a central midfielder, 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 has since signed an improved contract with Hearts.

Hartley's metamorphosis and subsequent impressive performances earned him International recognition in March 2005, when he won his first cap against Italy. He has subsequently earned a further 6 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.