SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS BUILT ME UP FOR LIFE IN THE FAST LANE

Boyd went from Sideshow Bob to the headline act

- CHRIS DUNLAVY

GEORGE Boyd was 17, rake thin and full of cocky exuberance when he mugged off Steve Watson in a Stevenage training session.

Watson, a brutish midfield destroyer and a favourite of manager Graham Westley, did not take it well.

“Steve was our captain, and he could be a bit nasty,” recalls Peterborough’s Boyd, now 34 and a veteran of 101 Premier League appearances with Hull and Burnley.

“I megged him in training one day and called it. Next challenge, he lifted me off the deck. I was lying on the floor and he was shouting at me saying ‘Don’t you ever f***ing do that to me again’.

“That was probably my first experience of old pros not taking kindly to things. Nowadays, you wouldn’t be able to get away with it. Knowing Graham, though, he loved all that. I’m sure he thought it was good for the youngsters to get a kicking.”

Boyd, too, wouldn’t have had it any other way. Released by Charlton Athletic as a teenager, he joined Stevenage on a college scheme in 2002.

And whilst those he’d left behind were farmed out on loan or toiled through meaningless youth matches, Boyd was cutting his teeth at the coalface and forging a reputation as one of the finest talents in the Conference.

By 21, he’d played over 120 matches, scored 31 times, and joined Peterborough for a NonLeague record fee of £260,000. Today, his CV includes five career promotions, two caps for Scotland, an FA Cup final appearance, and nine top-flight goals – including a famous stunner against Man City.