Hull City will have mixed feelings looking back on Steve Bruce’s triple swoop | OneFootball

Hull City's Egyptian swoop of January 2013 had mixed results

The 2012/13 campaign went straight into Hull City's history books, as the Tigers ended a three-year exile from the Premier League in Steve Bruce's first season with the club.

Attracting a manager who had been through two previous promotions from the Championship with Birmingham City in 2002 and 2007 was a statement of intent from the Tigers, and one which went on to bring the most successful period in the club's history.

Bruce wasn't afraid to strengthen an already strong squad which finished eighth in 2011/12 with a mixture of experienced and youthful additions, which included connections to some of his former Sunderland colleagues such as David Meyler and Ahmed Elmohamady, as well as the acquisition of his son, Alex.

Similarly to their eventual boardroom successor, Acun Ilicali, during this period, the Allams weren't afraid to utilise ties with their home country of Egypt in the winter of 2013, at a time when City were in the midst of an intensifying promotion race with Cardiff City, Watford and Crystal Palace.

And, despite initial excitement, the MKM Stadium faithful and Bruce will have mixed feelings over Gedo, Ahmed Fathi, and the aforementioned Elmohamady's respective stints in East Yorkshire.

Gedo and Ahmed Fathi's short stints at the MKM Stadium

Despite being well-known in the African football landscape, Gedo and Fathi were novices in the English game at the time of their loan arrivals on 31st January 2013, although the latter had made three appearances for Yorkshire rivals Sheffield United in 2007.

“It’s fantastic to be bringing in two international footballers here for the rest of the season and we’re looking forward to them arriving," Bruce stated the following day.

However, the striker who netted 24 goals in 99 games for Al-Ahly hit it off straight away in Black and Amber, marking his home debut with a goal against Derby, his first start with the winner against Charlton Athletic and then a third goal in as many games against Blackburn Rovers as Hull secured three home victories in a week, with Elmohamady also scoring twice in that time after his initial loan spell was extended after a short recall by Sunderland.

The 36-time international's final goals for the club would then come in a 5-2 success over Birmingham City just a week later but he would go on to feature six more times for the club in their promotion-winning season.

Despite returning to Al-Ahly after a foot injury, Gedo was eventually acquired on a second loan move in the Premier League, with Bruce emphasising that he had the goalscoring nous to aid Hull's consolidation bid.

He said: “Gedo will be able to cope with the ­Premier League – he just oozes class,"

However, after returning to HU3 in an EFL Cup victory over Huddersfield Town, Gedo would make just four more appearances for the club, two of which came in the Premier League through substitute cameos against Crystal Palace and Arsenal, with his final outing for Hull coming in the FA Cup against Middlesbrough in January 2014.

Meanwhile, whilst Fathi went on to represent The Pharaohs on 134 occasions which included three AFCON successes and an appearance at the 2012 London Olympics and 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, his impact in City's successful campaign of 12 years ago was minimal, to say the least.

The versatile defensive-minded midfielder made just seven appearances, with the first of those coming in the 1-0 success over Charlton and only making one start for the club, which saw him play 75 minutes of a defeat of the same scoreline against Wolves at Molineux.

However, whilst City fans may have forgotten about him, Fathi went on to feature for Umm Salal, have a five-year return with Al-Ahly between 2015 and 2020 after leaving just a year before, whilst the midfielder ended his lengthy career with a four-year stint at Cairo-based Pyramids FC, announcing his retirement in September 2024.

Ahmed Elmohamady holds a much stronger legacy at the MKM Stadium over his compatriots

In comparison to his international teammates, Elmohamady's influence on Hull's promotion was deservedly lauded, as he won the club's Player of the Year award before signing on a permanent deal for just £2m.

“It was a risk for me to move from the Premier League to the Championship but I talked to Steve Bruce, he is the one who brought me to England from Egypt, and he promised me that if I join Hull, I can help them get promoted to the Premier League," he said.

The man who became notorious with lung-busting runs down the right flank went on to score 11 times and produce 27 assists in 217 appearances for the Tigers is best known for his celebratory antics when Hull ended their top-flight exile against Cardiff City, before continuing to establish himself as a core figure in Black and Amber across a five-season period.

Elmohamady would feature in Hull's run to the FA Cup Final in 2014, score their first-ever goal in the UEFA Europa League against Slovakian outfit, AS Trencin, before continuing to be a mainstay in City's 2015/16 campaign which ended with an instant return to the Premier League as Bruce concluded his association with the Tigers in successful fashion, defeating Sheffield Wednesday at Wembley Stadium.

However, the man who is now a club ambassador at Aston Villa, who he joined for £1m after Hull's relegation in 2017, is still remembered for his strong contributions in Black and Amber, whilst Gedo and Fathi weren't unable to follow a similar path.