978 George Boyd

Biography

George Boyd was an attacking midfielder that joined Hull City on loan in February 2013 as manager Steve Bruce sought to bolster his attacking options as the Tigers launched a successful campaign to gain promotion to the Premier League – the loan deal included an option to purchase him during the 2013 close season.  George scored a brace of goals against Birmingham City in his second appearance for the club in March 2013 then later that month added two further goals against Nottingham Forest and Huddersfield Town – the goal against Forest prompted Boyd to perform a spectacle wearing celebration as a result of failing a medical at the City Ground earlier in his career due to a poor eyesight diagnosis.

With the Tigers promoted to the Premier League for the 2013/14 season the club exercised their option to purchase Boyd from Peterborough United for an undisclosed fee. He made the first Premier League performance of his career in August 2013 against Chelsea and was a regular throughout the season, mostly from the bench – Boyd scored top flight goals in December 2013 against Fulham and April 2014 against Swansea City. George was also a key part of the City squad that reached the May 2014 Wembley FA Cup Final against Arsenal, coming on as a second half substitute. In August 2014 George played in a Europa League tie against Lokeren and a Premier League match against Stoke City, which became his final appearance for the Tigers – Boyd signed for Premier League rivals Burnley on the September 2014 transfer deadline day.

George Jan Boyd was born Chatham, the historic dockyard Medway Town in Kent. As a teenager he was part of the academy system at Charlton Athletic, but after his release at fifteen years of age and a short spell at Chatham Town he joined National League side Stevenage Borough in July 2001. He made his senior debut for Stevenage against Margate in December 2002 but it wasn’t until March 2004 that he became a first team regular for Boro, netting his first goal against Northwich Victoria in April 2004. For the next two and a half seasons Boyd was a first team regular and reached double figures for goals in the 2005/06 and 2006/07 seasons – by January 2007 he had taken his tally at Stevenage Borough to 32 goals in 126 appearances.

Having scored sixteen goals for Stevenage in the first half of the 2006/07 season including a September 2006 hattrick against Stafford Rangers, Boyd was attracting attention at several Football League clubs. In January 2007 League Two side Peterborough United took the plunge and paid £260,000 for Boyd’s signature, a hefty fee for a National League player. He made his Football League debut in January 2007 against Darlington and netted his first goal for Posh in February 2007 against Wrexham – a brace on the last day took his goal tally for his first half season at London Road to six. In the 2007/08 season Boyd was ever-present in Peterborough’s League Two campaign at ended with promotion to League One, George was a key part of this success with fifteen goals in all competitions that included a January 2008 hattrick against Accrington Stanley.

Boyd added another ten goals in the 2008/09 season as Peterborough claimed a second successive promotion, then struck twelve times in the 2009/10 Championship season as Posh made an immediate return to League One. In March 2010 George made a loan move to Championship promotion hunters Nottingham Forest, he scored one goal in 6 appearances but was not involved in their play-off campaign and a proposed permanent transfer was not pursued by the City Ground side. Returning to Peterborough United, the 2010/11 season was Boyd’s most successful, he netted seventeen times as Posh qualified for the end of season play-offs and won the May 2011 Wembley final against Huddersfield Town. George played Championship football for two more seasons and by February 2013, when he left for Hull City, he had scored 75 goals for Peterborough United in 297 appearances during seven seasons.

Boyd joined Premier League side Burnley in September 2014 for a £3 million fee and made his Clarets debut two weeks later against Crystal Palace – his first goal for Burnley came against West Ham United in October 2014. Burnley were relegated to the Championship at the end of the 2014/15 season and George missed only two league games in the 2015/16 season as the Clarets won the league title and returned to the Premier League. He again missed just two league games in the 2016/17 season as Burnley consolidated their Premier League status. He left Turf Moor in July 2017 having scored twelve goals in 123 appearances.

In July 2017 Boyd signed for Championship side Sheffield Wednesday on a free transfer, after his August 2017 debut against Preston North End he spent four months out of the side due to a shoulder injury that required surgery, the first lengthy absence of his senior career. Returning to action in January 2018, George scored his first goal for the Owls in March 2018 against Bolton Wanderers. Boyd’s 2018/19 season was again affected by a lengthy injury absence and he left Sheffield Wednesday in May 2019 having scored four goals in 49 appearances.

In July 2019 Boyd returned to Peterborough United, now a League One side, and played regularly during the 2019/20 season until the COVID19 pandemic halted football. His last match in October 2020 took his tally to 25 appearances, at which point his contract was terminated due to the need to reduce the Posh wage bill and meet new financial regulations. In November 2020 Boyd joined ambitious League Two side Salford City but a year later in October 2021 he retired from the game having made just 13 appearances for the Hammies.

In December 2023 Boyd returned to football when he signed of North Western Counties League side Wythenshawe Town and was a regular first team starter for two seasons as they rose to the Northern Premier League. He scored seventeen goals in the 2024/25 season before drifting away from the club when new manager Chris Willcock took over in August 2025. In 2024 he began working as a brand ambassador in the asset management industry.

Boyd was capped at England C level, the pick of non-League players, during 2005.  Thanks to a Scottish grandmother he was qualified to play for Scotland – he made one appearance for Scotland B in May 2009 before making his senior international debut against Serbia in March 2013, five weeks after joining Hull City. He won his second and final Scotland cap in May 2014 against Nigeria.

Details

Nationality: Scotland
Date/Place of Birth: 2 October 1985, Chatham
Hull City First Game: 23 February 2013, Bolton Wanderers A (Championship), 27 years, 144 days old
Hull City Final Game: 24 August 2014, Stoke City H (Premier League), 28 years, 326 days old

Clubs

Stevenage Borough (2001-2007), Peterborough United (2007-2013), Nottingham Forest (2010, loan), Hull City (2013, loan), Hull City (2013-2014), Burnley (2014-2017), Sheffield Wednesday (2017-2019), Peterborough United (2019-2020), Salford City (2020-2021), Wythenshawe Town (2023-2025)

Hull City Record

Career: 54 apps, 6 goals