Nigel Pearson, Leicester City connections handed Hull City a £1.2m cult hero: View | OneFootball

Matty Fryatt went on to become a cult figure in Black and Amber

The use of pre-established connections between players and managers is a tactic often deployed in the transfer market.

In the winter of 2011, Hull City had recently begun to stabilise once again under Nigel Pearson's management after a period of near-extinction following relegation from the Premier League.

It would be fair to say that the ex-Leicester City boss perhaps doesn't get the recognition he deserves among supporters as a result of the historic exploits the Tigers enjoyed under Steve Bruce, which began seven months after his return to the King Power Stadium.

However, a number of those players who enjoyed such success in East Yorkshire were all acquired by Pearson and his connections to the East Midlands side presented City fans with a cult hero, all for the sum of just £1.2m.

Matty Fryatt's move to East Yorkshire

Fryatt and Pearson enjoyed a fruitful spell alongside each other at the King Power, which included a promotion as League One champions in 2009, with the striker hitting a tally of 27 goals, which remarkably was the joint-second highest tally among third tier strikers that campaign alongside Jermaine Beckford, before aiding the Foxes' run to the Championship Play-Offs, losing on penalties to Cardiff City.

However, under Paulo Sousa and Sven-Goran Eriksson, Fryatt's final months in the East Midlands saw goals dry up, before he was poached by his former boss on New Year's Day 2011, with Hull sat 15th in the second tier, two places and points above Leicester.

And the Nuneaton-born forward picked up where he left off under Pearson, scoring on his debut on the same day in a 3-2 away victory over Portsmouth, before introducing himself in style to the MKM Stadium crowd with a penalty against Barnsley and a composed finish in a 2-2 draw with Leeds United.

Fryatt and fellow January recruit Aaron McLean hit it off right away, and this was proven in no greater fashion than the former of the duo notching a hat-trick in a 5-1 demolition job against Scunthorpe United in the 'Humber Derby' at Glanford Park, before rounding off his first half-season with two further goals.

Matty Fryatt's most prolific season at Hull City

There are two names who predominantly come to mind when City fans discuss the 2011/12 campaign, with Fryatt falling under the same category as Slovenian maestro Robert Koren.

Hull started the season slowly, which was reflected in the striker failing to score between August 13th and October 1st against Ipswich Town and Cardiff City, before hitting a purple patch which lasted approximately two months, breaching opposition defences seven times in 10 games, with the last of those being a penalty in a dramatic win over Leicester, just two weeks after Pearson went full-circle and returned to the East Midlands.

Despite showing the occasional flash of brilliance as a side under Nick Barmby, Hull's form in the second half of the campaign dipped, but Fryatt was still a regular source of goals with eight after the turn of the year, ending the season in strong form particularly, with four goals in two games, the first of those being a hat-trick against Barnsley in HU3.

Overall, he would end the campaign with a highly-respectable 16 goals to his name.

Fryatt's involvement in Hull's record-breaking 2013/14 campaign

Despite finishing eighth, Barmby was dismissed by the Allam family in June 2012 and swiftly replaced by Bruce, who had already achieved promotion from the Championship on two occasions with Birmingham City.

However, the Hull boss would be without the services of his most potent finisher for almost the entirety of their promotion-winning campaign, with Fryatt sustaining an achilles injury, only making five appearances in league and cup, with his return to action being in April 2013.

A month into Hull's Premier League return, Fryatt was loaned out to Sheffield Wednesday, returning to a strong vein of form which totalled four goals in just nine appearances for the Owls, before Bruce opted to make the forward a part of his plans from December onwards.

Fryatt's first-ever Premier League goal came in a 6-0 rout over Fulham, before going on to play a starring role in City's run to their maiden FA Cup Final.

Fryatt was the spearhead of the Tigers' attack as January acquisitions - Shane Long and Nikica Jelavic - were both cup-tied after moving from West Brom and Everton, and his run of four goals in the historic competition began with two lethal finishes in a 2-0 win over Southend United.

The forward then rounded off Hull's 3-0 success over Sunderland at the MKM, before playing a pivotal substitute cameo in the thrilling semi-final against Sheffield United at Wembley.

Bruce's men found themselves 2-1 down to the then-League One Blades, before a poacher's finish from Fryatt set the wheels in motion for a remarkable second-half performance, with subsequent strikes from Tom Huddlestone, Stephen Quinn and David Meyler ensuring a first-ever appearance at the showpiece event in North London.

"We’re at Wembley, we’ve now scored five and the fans are there going ballistic. It was one of those where you think ‘What is going on?’ That’s what you dream of as a kid and it was actually happening," he told Hull Live years later.

“Memories that can’t be taken away. So, so special. How many people can say they’ve experienced that?”

It was perhaps fitting that one of the players who played a major part in Hull's upturn in fortunes after an unstable period post-relegation saw his final appearance for the club recorded in the FA Cup Final, leading the line for the full 120 minutes despite falling to an agonising defeat against Arsenal.

“We did our best in the game but class told in the end,” the striker added. “Arsenal were the better team.”

That would be the last City fans would see of "Super Matt", before an unfortunate spell at Nottingham Forest eventually saw the now-Walsall U15's coach receive a six-figure sum from the Reds after the striker believed the club mistreated another achilles problem, which led to his eventual retirement in 2018.