George David Eric Hirst (born 15 February 1999) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a forward for EFL Championship club

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

. He is the son of former

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

striker David Hirst.

Club career

Sheffield Wednesday

After coming through the academy, Hirst signed his first professional contract for

in March 2016. He made his first team debut against

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...

on 9 August 2016, in the EFL Cup in a 2–1 defeat. His league debut came on 10 December 2016 against

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in a 2–1 defeat. In April 2018, Hirst was linked with a move to Manchester United after rejecting a long-term contract at

OH Leuven

In June 2018, Hirst was signed by a second division Belgian team,

Oud-Heverlee Leuven Oud-Heverlee Leuven (), also called OH Leuven or OHL, is a Belgian football club from the city of Leuven. It was created in 2002 from the merger of three clubs, '' F.C. Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee'', whose registration number it inherited, '' ...

, led by former Sheffield Wednesday player

Nigel Pearson Nigel Graham Pearson (born 21 August 1963) is an English football manager and former professional player, currently the manager of Championship club Bristol City. During his playing career, he was a defender and played for Shrewsbury Town, Shef ...

Leicester City

After just one season at OH Leuven, Hirst joined

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

in the summer of 2019. On 19 July 2020 Hirst made his debut for Leicester, coming on in the 83rd minute in a 3–0 loss to

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

Rotherham United (loan)

On 16 September 2020, Hirst joined

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

on a season-long loan deal.

Portsmouth (loan)

On 3 August 2021, Hirst joined

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

on loan for the 2021–22 season. He scored his first goal for the club on 9 November 2021 in an EFL Trophy tie against Crystal Palace U21s.

Blackburn Rovers (loan)

On 31 August 2022, Hirst joined

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

on a season-long loan, with an option to buy.

Ipswich Town (loan)

On 8 January 2023, Hirst joined

on loan for the rest of the season.

Ipswich Town

On 13 July 2023, Hirst made his move to

permanent for a undisclosed fee, signing a four-year deal with the club. He scored his first ever

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

goal on his second debut for the club, netting against Sunderland on the opening day of the 2023–24 season.

International career

Hirst made his debut for the England Under-17 national team during the Algarve Cup in February 2016 – in his second game for the team he scored twice against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in a 2–2 draw. He was subsequently called up to the squad for the

2016 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2016 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the 15th edition of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship (34th edition if the Under-16 era is included), the annual European international youth football championship contested by the men's under- ...

in Azerbaijan. In the group stage Hirst scored against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

and started the Quarter-final defeat against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. On 23 August 2016, Hirst was called up to the England U18's for the first time. In summer 2017, Hirst represented England Under 20s at the

2017 Toulon Tournament The 2017 Toulon Tournament (officially french: 45ème Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello) was the 45th edition of the Toulon Tournament. The tournament was named after Maurice Revello, who started the tournament in 1967 a ...

, scoring a hat-trick in a game against

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

to take his 2016–17 tally to 40 goals in all competitions. Hirst started in the final against the Ivory Coast which England won on penalties and was subsequently named in the team of the tournament. On 1 September 2017, Hirst scored his second hat-trick of the Summer in a victory against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, for England Under-19. In July 2018, Hirst was included in the squad for the

2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-19 Euro 2018) was the 17th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship (67th edition if the Under-18 and Junior eras are included), the annual international youth footb ...

. In May 2019, Hirst was included in the

England U20 England national under-20 football team, also known as England Under-20s or England U20(s), represents England in association football at an under-20 age level and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in En ...

squad for the 2019 Toulon Tournament.

Career statistics

Honours

Ipswich Town * EFL League One runner-up: 2022–23 England U20 *

Toulon Tournament The Toulon Tournament (officially the Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello) is a football (training match) tournament, which traditionally features invited national teams composed of youth players from U-17 to U-23 level. ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

Individual *Toulon Tournament Team of the Tournament: 2017

References

External links

George Hirst
at Leicester City F.C. the website
England profile
at The FA * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hirst, George 1999 births Living people Footballers from Sheffield English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Oud-Heverlee Leuven players Leicester City F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players English Football League players Challenger Pro League players Premier League players England men's youth international footballers English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium