Boaz Myhill (2005/06)
One of only four players to have played in the top four divisions for Hull City, along with Andy Dawson, Ian Ashbee and Ryan France, goalkeeper Boaz Myhill was a predominant figure in-between the sticks for the Tigers during their meteoric rise.
Signing from Aston Villa in December 2003, the shot-stopper had previous loan spells at Stoke City, Bristol City, Bradford City, Macclesfield Town and Stockport County before making a permanent switch to East Yorkshire.
“At the time, all the buzz was around Hull as you could see they were on the up. It was something that I very much wanted to be a part of,” said Myhill. “Driving up, I remember being very excited and I remember there being an Arco and I thought that was the stadium! I found it a bit later and it was a very impressive stadium so I was really excited to join.
“Peter Taylor played a massive part in it as well. He was another big influence on my career and there was absolutely no part of it that was a negative for me, so it was a chance that I was lucky to jump at with both hands really.”
Making his debut against Mansfield Town, the now 40-year-old made 23 appearances as the club won promotion from the fourth tier of English football. The following campaign saw him feature 49 times as another promotion came in the historic double promotion from League Two to the Championship.
“I didn’t really understand it (promotion) at the time. I came in December and the team was already doing really well and for me it was just all very new. It was just the case of turning up every week and wanting to do well and that was my mindset really. Then we got promoted and it was just a strange feeling. It doesn’t happen a lot, but it is something that I don’t think you really appreciate until you retire. At the end of every season, you always try and get into the team next season.”
The 2005/06 season saw second tier football return to the city of Hull for the first time since 1991 and Myhill was a key player in helping the club consolidate in the Championship. Making 45 league appearances and keeping 12 clean sheets, the shot-stopper only missed one game due to a questionable suspension away at QPR in November 2005.
“That was one of my mates in the youth teams,” remembered Myhill. “My mate was the striker for QPR and I said ‘come on mate, leave it alone’ and then I was sent off and after the game I said to him ‘sorry mate it is just the game.’”
Two months later, Myhill produced one of his most remembered performances in a City shirt. The 3-0 away win at Stoke City does not illustrate the entire story from the fixture as the Welsh international saved two penalties in the fixture, with the travelling City supporters singing “Myhill for England.”
“It was a surreal game. I remember walking into the dressing room afterwards and it was 100% true, Colin Murphy who was the assistant manager said to Peter Taylor that we got a bit of luck there and it is spot on. It doesn’t happen very often and it is a freak incident really and they were two very different penalties.
“I made my mind up for the second one that when they would go down the middle and this is before video analysis and where coaches have given you a list to say where they go. Back in the day, you just worked it out. I just looked at him and I thought he fancied doing this and that is what he did.”
An 18th-placed finish in the table saw City secure Championship football for another season, with Myhill receiving the Player of the Year award. Speaking on receiving the accolade, the 40-year-old said: “It was a weird feeling because we turned up to the nice event at the stadium and I wasn’t sure if I had won it until I was told I won it. To be honest, I thought Leon Cort was going to win it. In the players’ one, I voted for him as he had an unbelievable season and when they said it was me, I was surprised.
“It was an amazing achievement to be given and an honour to be given, but I was just more happy to be a part of the first year back in the Championship. We needed to stay in the league and we did it really so that was the job achieved. I have never been one for attention or personal accolades; it makes me feel uncomfortable, but it was a massive honour.”
The Tigers continued to develop and grow in the Championship, with the 2007/08 season becoming another chapter written in the history books for the football club. The first-ever promotion to England’s top flight came following a successful play-off campaign, with Phil Brown’s men dispatching Watford and Bristol City to secure Premier League football.
“I remember leaving the bus and staying at the Grove. I remember getting on the bus and I was the most nervous man in the world and Dean Windass said something that made me laugh and calmed me down. I was absolutely petrified until we got to Wembley, but it is crazy that that when we got there, I just relaxed and it became one of the most relaxed games of football I have ever been in which is stupid really,” explained Myhill.
“It was an amazing day out and we had a really good party afterwards which was nice to be a part of. It was just a great day for the football club and it was nice to see some of the boys who played right through it like Nick (Barmby) and Dean who are from the city and Ian (Ashbee) who was a huge leader. Those three plus the manager were huge influences on me all in very different ways so I think the mixture of everything we had was really good and it was just an unbelievable day.”
Myhill played 277 appearances in total for City and produced a number of incredible performances in his time here. Later joining West Bromwich Albion, where he is now currently working as a Professional Development Phase goalkeeping coach after being influenced by former City goalkeeper coach Mark Prudhoe, the 40-year-old concluded by mentioning his favourite game and favourite save he ever made in a Hull City shirt.
“For me, it was the play-off semi-final against Watford. That was the most enjoyable game I have ever played in my career. I remember coming out for a cross and getting absolutely nowhere near it and the referee somehow disallowed it and I was nearly laughing about it thinking that if he had not disallowed that how things would be very different. It was a high pressure game and the fans all got behind us.
"My favourite save came in that game when I denied Matt Sadler. He took a left-footed volley that I managed to save and overall, that was a great day out so that would be my favourite save and my favourite game.”
