George is still making Friends | OneFootball

As the derby returns after almost eight-and-a-half years on Sunday lunchtime, George Friend reflects on his Wolves and Birmingham City spells and a career ultimately defined by Middlesbrough. He also featured when Wolves beat Blues 2-0 in the FA Cup in 2009. According to ExpressAndStar.com, the 38-year-old, who still lives in the Midlands, is looking back with pride and perspective.

Friend left Exeter for Wolves on a deadline day as a teenager, wide eyed about the club’s scale. With his father’s farm behind him, he arrived with eggs, meats and later healthy meals, a quirky icebreaker that helped him settle while he chased a first-team place.

He played only a handful that season, but came on early in a bruising 3-1 win at Bramall Lane, then started 1-0 victories at Crystal Palace and Sheffield Wednesday that halted a poor run. He also started the 1-1 draw at Barnsley that clinched the Championship title. The following December he made his Premier League debut at Old Trafford in a 3-0 defeat after Mick McCarthy changed his entire outfield 10 against Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United.

A frank chat with Terry Connor convinced him to seek regular football. He captained Doncaster Rovers and swept their player awards, earned a move to Middlesbrough and spent eight years there, making 299 appearances, winning promotion, wearing the armband and later playing 25 Premier League games in 2016. Off the pitch he became a Middlesbrough Foundation trustee and launched a Teesside University scholarship.

His final appearance came for Bristol Rovers, curtailed by injury, before a stint as their sporting director. He now mixes business interests with mentoring and recruitment work, while enjoying family life. Friend feels he was too early at Wolves and too late at Birmingham, where he also acted as a mentor, and he hopes the region’s clubs can push on this season.

Source: ExpressAndStar.com

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”