Strangest football rule? Joe Hart had to explain bizarre Premier League incident in 2014

Joe Hart is one of the greatest Premier League goalkeepers of all time.

The former England number one might have seen his career decline at a staggering rate of knots when Pep Guardiola arrived at Manchester City, but there was no denying the brilliance of his peak years.

Besides, we are talking about the man with the joint-most Premier League Golden Glove awards in history with his four wins across 2010/11, 2011/12, 2012/13 and 2014/15 only matched by Petr Cech.

And one of the key contributors to Hart’s success as one of the world’s best goalkeepers in the early 2010s, as with any high-achieving footballer, was his intelligence and footballing IQ.

Hart might not have had the footwork that Guardiola was looking for at the Etihad Stadium, but he certainly couldn’t have any complaints about the City legend when it comes to his understanding of the game.

Besides, Premier League boffins might remember an incident during Queens Park Rangers vs Manchester City in 2014 that demonstrated that Hart has a better knowledge of the sport’s laws than most.

Even the most seasoned of supporters and professional players can find themselves baffled by football’s rules from time to time because there are always unique circumstances that can lead to quirky outcomes.

You only have to look at a recent question on The Chase about direct free-kicks going into a team’s own goal resulting in a corner and not a change to the scoreline baffling Bradley Walsh to see what we’re on about.

And the aforementioned incident in QPR vs City was so confusing that Hart actually had to explain the rules to Charlie Austin after the game so that he could understand why an earlier goal had been chalked off.

That’s because Austin was left bewildered when he