Ipswich Town finally got his man when landing striker George Hirst on loan from Leicester City in January. The 24-year-old has been talking about his journey to this point and hopes for the future.
ON HIS FAMOUS DAD
George is the son of former Sheffield Wednesday hero and three-cap England striker David Hirst, a big-name top-flight player in the 80s and 90s.
“He retired a year or two after I was born,” says George, speaking to the club programme.
“I just remember whenever we were out all the people coming up to him and asking for pictures and telling him how good he was.
“If you look at the profile of me and my dad as players, we are completely different. The fact we are both strikers is the only comparison really.
“I really don’t see it as a pressure. I’m just proud of what he did. If I can go and be better than he was then I will have done alright!”
ON HIS YEAR ABROAD
After being released by Sheffield Wednesday at the age of 19, Hirst spent a year playing at Belgian second-tier side Oud-Heverlee Leuven.
“It took me out of my comfort zone,” he says. “It was my first time living away from home and half of the lads in the team didn’t speak English.
“It helped that I’d known (manager) Nigel Pearson for a long time because he played with my dad at Wednesday. He looked after me and was a big influence.
“I enjoyed every second of that year.”
ON LEICESTER CITY FUTURE
Hirst made two substitute appearances in the Premier League for the Foxes in July 2020.
Since then he has been loaned out to Rotherham, Portsmouth, Blackburn and now Ipswich.
Having signed a new three-year deal at the King Power Stadium last summer, he said: “Brendan Rodgers gave me my debut in a game at Tottenham. I’m forever grateful for that. It's something that no-one can ever take away from me.
“Being in a dressing room with some of the very best players in the world was massive for my confidence. It was brilliant for me as a striker, getting the opportunity to learn off players like Jamie Vardy.
“Leicester have established themselves now as a top Premier League team. To go on and one day score goals for the first team and be a regular part of things there would be a great honour.”
ON ROTHERHAM SPELL
Hirst’s first loan spell was at Rotherham United in 2020/21. He failed to score in four starts and 27 sub appearances as the Millers were relegated back to League One.
“If you look on Wikipedia it says I played 31 (league) games for Rotherham, but if you add up all the time I was on the pitch it wasn’t a lot in total (662 minutes).
“They were struggling to stay in the Championship and often I’d come on in games where we were losing.
“It was tough to make a mark there, but it was still a season that I learnt a lot from. Sometimes, when things don’t go your way, it’s an opportunity to work out why that was and to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
ON PORTSMOUTH SPELL
Hirst subsequently spent last season on loan at League One club Portsmouth. Thirteen of his 15 goals there all came after the turn of the year.
“The second half of last season was a big for me, starting regularly and scoring a lot of goals.
“That’s what I’m trying to do here, put my foot down and go and score a lot of goals again. I know I can do it.
“I’ve got that experience of last season in my back pocket to fall back on. I understand what was getting some joy and I hope I can transfer that to Ipswich over the rest of the season.”
ON IPSWICH MOVE
Ipswich tried to sign Hirst last summer, but he opted to join Championship club Blackburn on loan.
After limited minutes at the Lancashire club, he was recalled in January and Kieran McKenna finally got his man.
“Playing in front of big crowds at Portman Road was a big reason why I wanted to come here. I enjoyed it at Portsmouth – that gave me a taste of what it’s like to play in front of passionate crowds – but this has just taken it onto another level. It’s been brilliant.
“Getting my first goal for the club (at Burnley) was a nice moment. Sone (Aluko) turned his man and played it out wide and when he does that I’m on my bike and getting within the frame of the goal because Kayden (Jackson)’s pace is frightening – he's hard to keep up with! He put it on a plate and I put it away. I hope that’s the start of a few goals for me here.
“I’m looking forward to these next three months. I’m feeling fit and feeling good.”
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