In an online survey of 2,103 young Match of the Day magazine fans, 37 per cent voted the Birmingham City shot stopper, on loan from Manchester City, as the best England keeper. Votes for Hart were nearly double those for Portsmouth's David James, who polled 20 per cent. Robert Green got 19 per cent, Ben Foster scored 17 per cent and Paul Robinson trailed in fifth with six per cent.
According to Match of the Day magazine editor Ian Foster: "Our poll shows that young fans base their decision on present form rather than past experience, and Hart has had a brilliant season in helping Birmingham to outperform expectations. There's no clear favourite to be England's No.1 at the World Cup, so Hart has a great chance of getting into Fabio Capello's 23-man squad."
In another recent poll for the magazine, optimistic young Match of the Day readers backed England to get to the World Cup final, however their dads predicted they would get knocked out in the quarter finals.
i) Match of the Day magazine is the official magazine for the TV programme, aimed at 8-14 year olds, it has 80,040 readers according to the last ABC circulation figures.
ii) The poll was conducted on the Match of the Day magazine website, MOTDmag.com between 11-18 January