Hull City: Capitalising on Bolton Wanderers call to sign Euros winner had baffling results | OneFootball

Stelios Giannakopoulous didn't last long with the Tigers

The summer of 2008 saw Hull City promoted to the Premier League for the first time in the club's 104-year history.

With that came a completely new profile of player that the East Yorkshire side were able to attract, despite the abundance of pre-season predictions that had seen Phil Brown's side written off at their peril after defeating Bristol City 1-0 at Wembley Stadium.

Brown and Tigers owner Paul Duffen had already showcased their ability at utilising Sam Allardyce's former assistant's contacts during the 'glory days' at Bolton Wanderers in the early-to-mid 2000s, which had seen Jay-Jay Okocha and Henrik Pedersen brought to the club in the promotion-winning campaign, and having varying levels of on and off-pitch impact.

It had then been hoped that regardless of signings such as Geovanni and George Boateng, which had already bolstered City's midfield ranks ahead of the new season, Greek international, Stelios Giannakopoulos would follow suit.

However, his addition on a free transfer will be one that continues to baffle the Tigers support to this very day.

Stelios Giannakopoulos' pre-Hull City career

The winger rose to prominence in his home country after signing for Olympiacos in the summer of 1996 from Paniliakos.

During his time with the Greek giants, Stelios was part of a side that dominated the Greek Super League for seven consecutive seasons, scoring 72 goals in 230 appearances in all competitions for the club, which included their first-ever goal in the UEFA Champions League against Porto in 1997.

After being a part of the all-conquering side, he would make his move to the Premier League in May 2003, joining Bolton under Allardyce, before embarking on yet another successful campaign as the Whites finished 8th and made it to the EFL Cup Final, before Stelios featured in four of six games as Greece defied the odds to defeat Portugal in the UEFA Euro 2004 Final at the Estadio Da Luz.

Bolton then achieved a European finish of their own in 2004/05, and after a season of seven goals, Stelios was linked with a potential move to Manchester City or Liverpool, before signing a fresh three-year deal at the Reebok Stadium, as it was known then/

Such a decision was then fully justified as the wide man ended the following season as the club's top scorer with 12 goals, before seeing his involvement take a massive nosedive due to persistent groin issues.

Stelios would make just 44 appearances across all competitions in his final two seasons in East Lancashire, which saw him released in May 2008 after featuring 177 times for the club.

Stelios Giannakopoulos' time at Hull City was extremely short-lived

Less than a month later, it was reported that the then-34-year-old, who made two appearances at UEFA Euro 2008, had been identified by his former assistant Brown as a transfer target, and that a reunion was on the cards.

"I will be talking to his agent when I get back (from holiday) and I will be talking to the player himself soon," Brown told the Hull Daily Mail via Sky Sports in June 2008.

However, it wouldn't be until September 22nd 2008, at a time when Hull were sat in seventh place after five games, that Stelios saw the deal confirmed until the end of the 08/09 campaign.

"My main target and my dream was to stay in England and to stay in the Premier League and Hull City have given me the chance to make my dream come true," he said after the news broke.

Unfortunately for Hull, the man who was brought in to provide top-flight quality and experience failed to live up to the billing.

The midfielder would sustain an immediate injury which put him on the back foot, before eventually making his debut with an eight-minute substitute cameo in a 2-2 draw with Portsmouth nearly two months after putting pen to paper.

His only Premier League appearance at the MKM Stadium came in a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Sunderland the following month, coming on with 22 minutes remaining, before registering a solitary start in Black and Amber in a drab FA Cup Third Round tie against Newcastle United.

Just two weeks later, Giannakopoulos would depart and return to Greece with Larissa, winding down his career with the Super League outfit with just 25 appearances in a year and a half.

"I told myself something was not there and something was not adding up for me whilst I was at Hull, so I felt that I needed a change and had to find something different with a different approach," he told the official Bolton website in 2020 when reflecting upon a largely successful career.

However, the man who was once the lynchpin of a side that produced one of football's most unexpected tales failed to do so in Hull, and the initial decision to offer a contract in the first place will continue to baffle supporters who saw his limited availability.