John Hartson: When life transcends football

As the great Bill Shankly remarked: “Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it’s much more serious than that.”. It many cases we would be inclined to believe him. There are times when football captivates us so much that we forget that at the end of the day, fundamentally, it is a sport. The case of John Hartson is an example of how we should not take football, and indeed football rivalries, too seriously; that sometimes life transcends football.

Hartson is currently in a ‘critical but stable’ condition following surgery after the revelations that he is cruelly suffering from cancer. We shouldn’t, in this article at least, dwell on this grim and depressing news but instead focus on what an extraordinary player Hartson was before he retired last year. A career that took him from Luton to Arsenal to West Ham and then Coventry

John Hartson

followed by, where he is perhaps best remembered, Celtic and onto West Bromwich Albion then finally to Norwich, is one that should not be overshadowed by his recent ailments.

Hartson will never be remembered as the most skillful player in the world. He didn’t possess any Garrincha, Cruyff or Zidane like qualities but he did one thing: he scored. 89 goals in 146 games for Celtic have made him a legend at the club, not to mention being voted joint Player of the Year in 2005 and scoring the goal that won Celtic the title in 2006. His occasional disciplinary problems aside, he was good at what he was paid to do – put the ball in the net.

This is why we should look at Hartson not as a patient or a victim but as a great footballer. Many fans, and the writer includes himself in this, berated him as a player as he scored yet another goal past Rangers but when it comes down to it, football is a game. There are more important things. Things which should go past on field rivalry. And I hope I speak for everyone when I say that I sincerely wish him and his family all the best for the future and I hope he will be back on our screens soon commenting on the game he so dearly loves.