Biography
Attacking midfielder George Honeyman joined Hull City in August 2019 on the eve of the 2019/20 season, adding guile and creativity to the Tigers’ midfield engine room. He was eased into the first eleven by manager Grant McCann and gave a few battling performances, while at times other being outmuscled by Championship level opponents. As the season progressed Honeyman became a more regular first team choice as the most advanced midfielder of a central trio, using his tireless running and eye for a pass to good effect. He scored his first goal for the Tigers in a December 2019 victory at Queens Park Rangers that lifted the club to the fringe of the play-offs. As the season progressed and COVID-19 disrupted the game, City’s form dropped off a cliff but Honeyman remained a rare bright spark in a squad that hurtled towards League One.
Once relegated to League One for the 2020/21 season Honeyman turned in a relentless series of man of the match performances, pairing his remarkable fitness with a creative threat. As the season headed towards its climax and City compiled a string of victories, Honeyman was a vital part of the side contributing goals and assists aplenty. He ended the season not only with a League One winners’ medal, but also a shelf-full of Player of the Season awards – he contributed sufficient goals and assists to place him in the top three creative players across all of Europe’s professional leagues.
Despite missing the opening weeks of the 2021/22 Championship campaign due to injury, when he returned to action in the autumn months Honeyman immediately reconfirmed his worth to the team, contributing goals and man of the match performances as City compiled a lengthy unbeaten run to ease clear of the relegation zone, impressing new manager Shota Arveladze in the closing weeks of the season. However although his contract extension was triggered by the club at the end of the season pending negotiation of new terms, Honeyman eventually chose to move on instead and left the Tigers in June 2022 after three years of solid career progression.
Born in the Tyne Valley town of Prudhoe, George Christopher Honeyman came into the Sunderland youth system from the age of 10 and progressed through every level to reach the first team, making his debut in a February 2015 FA Cup tie against Bradford City. He spent three months on loan at Conference National League side Gateshead between October 2015 and January 2016, scoring once in 9 appearances. He returned to Sunderland for the closing months of the season and made his Premier League debut in a May 2016 match against Watford.
George started the 2016/17 season with four appearances in the Football League Trophy for Sunderland’s Under-23 side, as the season progressed and Sunderland slipped towards the Premier League relegation zone Honeyman was used as a first team support player. With Sunderland relegated to the Championship for the 2017/18 season and destined to drop immediately into League One, Honeyman became a more prominent first team choice and was handed the captain’s armband in July 2018 ahead of the club’s League One campaign.
Some Sunderland fans lionised him as a local lad made good, others used him as a lightning rod for wider supporter anguish, but what was indisputable is that George was a key part of the Black Cats’ side that reached the League One play-off final at Wembley in May 2019 only to lose to Charlton Athletic. George also played in the Football League Trophy campaign that ended in an April 2019 Wembley defeat to Portsmouth after a penalty shootout. When Honeyman left Sunderland in June 2019 he had scored 15 goals in 101 first team appearances.
George left the Tigers in June 2022 and headed south to join Championship side Millwall. In his first season at The New Den he was a prominent member of the first team that narrowly failed to reach the end of season play-offs, scoring once in 40 appearances. He was used more as a support player during the 2023/24 season as Millwall chopped and changed managers and drifted towards the relegation zone, pulling away from danger in the closing weeks of the season.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 8 September 1994, Prudhoe
Hull City First Game: 10 August 2019, Reading H (Championship), 24 years, 336 days old
Hull City Final Game: 7 May 2022, Nottingham Forest H (Championship), 27 years, 241 days old
Clubs
Sunderland (2012-2019), Gateshead (2015-2016, loan), Hull City (2019-2022), Millwall (2022-current)
Hull City Record
Career: 127 apps, 10 goals
George Honeyman| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019/20 | 21 (21) | 1 | 1 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | – | – | – | – |
| 2020/21 | 42 (0) | 4 | 1 (0) | 0 | 2 (1) | 0 | – | – | 0 (1) | 0 |
| 2021/22 | 34 (1) | 5 | 1 (0) | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – |