Hull City will always be grateful for Nottingham Forest transfer mishap | OneFootball

George Boyd's performances often went under the radar at the MKM Stadium

So often in football, a 'domino effect' can prove vital in determining the short and long-term futures and aims of clubs.

The Championship is a league synonymous with drama that you perhaps wouldn't envisage happening on such a scale in other divisions, and it would be fair to say that Hull City were the beneficiaries over both Nottingham Forest and Peterborough United in the winter of 2013 as a result.

In Steve Bruce's first season at the club, the former Sunderland boss had City firmly established as promotion contenders by the time the transfer window rolled around.

It was evident for months of the campaign that Hull lacked a cutting edge in attack, with Bruce's men notorious for winning games by such narrow margins.

This would just about see them over the line in the promotion race, that was subsequently followed by the most successful times in the club's history.

Therefore, the Tigers' support will always be grateful for a bizarre mishap at the City Ground which allowed the East Yorkshire side to acquire the services of George Boyd from London Road.

Hull City took full advantage of George Boyd, Nottingham Forest mishap

Boyd netted 75 goals for Posh between 2007 and 2013, and was influential in the club's back-to-back promotions from League Two to the Championship between his first full campaign of 2007/08 and 2009/10.

He would then score 32 of those strikes after a disastrous six-game loan stint with Forest in the second half of the 09/10 season, with his only goal for the Reds coming in a 2-2 draw against Scunthorpe United ahead of a 6-4 aggregate defeat to Blackpool in the Championship play-offs - in which he played no part.

After registering nine goal contributions for Posh in the first 25 games of the 2012/13 season, play-off-chasing Forest made Boyd a prime target, and after seeing an initial bid rejected, Alex McLeish's side thought their luck was in as an attempt was finally accepted on Deadline Day.

However, to theirs, and Peterborough chairman Darragh MacAnthony's dismay, the playmaker saw a permanent move to his former club collapse after the failure of an eye test.

“At 10.30pm they told me they couldn’t sign me because of my eyes and I was in pieces. I rang Darragh MacAnthony and he was brilliant with me to be fair. He told me I’d always have a place at Posh and I think I played for them on the Saturday," Boyd told the Peterborough Telegraph in 2020.

“The eye test nonsense was all down to Billy Davies as he was set to return as Forest manager and clearly didn’t fancy me," he added.

And, after featuring in three further games for Posh, which included a remarkable send-off in a 5-1 away success at Millwall, in which the Scotland international scored once and provided three assists, Hull confirmed a loan switch with a view to a permanent deal on February 21st 2013.

"It is everyone's dream to play in the Premier League and I think I can do that here," Boyd said after joining the side who were sat second in the table.

After making his bow for City with a 30-minute cameo in a 4-1 defeat to Bolton Wanderers two days after the switch was completed, Boyd endeared himself to his new supporters straight away in his first start against Birmingham City.

A dream debut saw him notch his first goal for the club inside the first minute after rounding Jack Butland, before scoring a low effort on 33 minutes as Hull emerged 5-2 victors.

"If there has been a better home debut, I haven't seen one for a long time. He was terrific from first to the last," was Bruce's first assessment of his new attacker.

His next goal in Black and Amber was written in the stars as it gave City an initial lead against Forest at the MKM just two weeks later, with his improvised finish looping past Karl Darlow before producing a celebration in reference to the aforementioned eye-test saga; although the visitors would eventually come from behind to win 2-1 in East Yorkshire.

However, the forward would be rewarded with his full Scotland debut in a World Cup qualifying defeat to Serbia in Novi Sad.

Boyd then netted his 10th and final league goal of the season with a crucial strike against Huddersfield Town in front of the Sky cameras, which gave Hull one of their 18 wins by a one-goal margin in their promotion season, which was eventually secured with the dramatic events against Cardiff City on the final day in HU3, whilst his parent club were relegated despite a return of 54 points.

The then 27-year-old would put pen-to-paper on a two-year deal with the Premier League newcomers in May 2013 ahead of the expiration of his contract with the Cambridgeshire outfit, and he would make his top-flight bow with a substitute appearance in the opening day defeat to José Mourinho's Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

The first of his nine starts in the league came away to Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane in October 2013, before scoring his first goal at the top level with the third of City's six second-half goals in a rout against Fulham and former Tigers keeper, David Stockdale.

After a series of mainly substitute appearances as the season progressed, which included two assists in the club's historic run to the FA Cup Final, Boyd was then involved in an incident with Manchester City's Joe Hart in a 2-0 home defeat in March 2014.

Such antics saw him banned for three games after he was proven to have spat at the England goalkeeper.

However, the man, who was one of many players who epitomised Hull's workmanlike approach under Bruce in his first two seasons, responded straight after the conclusion of his ban with a tidy header in a 1-0 win against Swansea City at the MKM, which effectively kept the Tigers away from relegation danger as their focus drifted towards the FA Cup semi-final and Final.

Boyd was hooked at half-time in the semi-final victory against Sheffield United after a disastrous first half, and only featured in 18 minutes of the extra-time defeat to Arsenal.

The end of George Boyd's Hull City career

Bruce then looked to strengthen the squad in the off-season ahead of City's first-ever venture into the UEFA Europa League, which included the signings of Robert Snodgrass and Tom Ince.

This put Boyd further down the pecking order, and his final appearances for the club came in the 1-0 defeat to KSC Lokeren of Belgium in the Europa League play-off round first leg, before playing nine minutes against Stoke City the following Sunday.

After not being named in Bruce's squad for a 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa in late August, Boyd then agreed a three-year deal with Burnley after the Premier League newcomers struck a £3m fee with Hull, although both clubs would be relegated at the conclusion of the season and subsequently promoted together in 2015/16.

The two-time international then went on to make 123 appearances under Sean Dyche before joining Sheffield Wednesday in 2017, before going on to return to Peterborough in 2019, and after a two-season stint back with his old side, Boyd's last spell in the EFL was with Salford City in 2020/21, where he made just 13 appearances.

Despite the fact Boyd only scored six times in 54 appearances for Hull, his performances often went under-the-radar, and supporters will be grateful that Bruce was able to acquire his signature after Forest's earlier mishap.