Socceroo Boyle honoured for Hibs service with lucrative 'testimonial year'

[p]The Aberdeen-born dual international joined [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/hibernian/f5Fnxcx4/"]Hibs[/a] on loan from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/dundee-utd/8QEB2FFp/"]Dundee United[/a] in 2014/15, during their three-season stay in the second division Scottish Championship, helping lift them back into Scotland's top-tier with eight goals in their promotion season. [/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/boyle-martin/f7Wzffpk/"]Boyle[/a] has made 420 competitive appearances for Hibs across an 11-year period, scoring 114 goals and enjoying early success at the club when they won their first Scottish Cup in more than a century back in 2016.[/p][p]He remains the only member of that squad still at the club, scoring a first-half League Cup semi-final hat-trick against Rangers in 2021 before wearing the captain's armband 63 times as deputy.[/p][p]Qualifying for the Australian national team through his Sydney-born father, Boyle made his Socceroos debut in 2018 and was in serious contention for the 2022 FIFA World Cup before a serious knee injury forced him to miss the tournament. [/p][p]He scored ten goals for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/australia/xSrf6qMM/"]Australia[/a], including two at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup when his side reached the quarter-finals. [/p][p]This is almost certain to be Boyle's final season at the club, having signed a surprise one-year contract extension in the 2026 off-season after then-head coach David Gray announced to fans that the 2025/26 season was to be Boyle's last. [/p][p]His contract extension was met with unanimous and enthusiastic approval amongst the Leith fanbase, illustrated by the online reaction seen on the club's social media posts.[/p][embed guid="81dca7ae-73c4-4453-9865-935755a2c5d8" url="https://x.com/HibernianFC/status/2055607808599416881" social-type="twitter" /][p]Boyle is a much beloved member of the Hibernian community as the club's tenth-top all-time goalscorer, as is his wife [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/boyle-rachael/jNRwWzNr/"]Rachael Boyle[/a], who plays both for Hibs and the Scottish national team as a midfielder. [/p][p]Hibs have opted to honour his long service with a series of events throughout the season to raise a potential six-figure sum for Boyle's family and his partner charity, Scotland's Hanlon Stevenson Foundation. [/p][p]One-off testimonial matches are common in the United Kingdom as a way of thanking long-serving retiring players and assisting them financially with their post-playing transition, but 'testimonial seasons' are an honour reserved only for a select few.[/p][image alt="Martin Boyle Career Numbers" id="c60b01a7-57ff-4337-b485-112738fd60b2" credit-line="Flashscore" hidden-attrs="alt, credit" guid="9089ff26-f0e3-4622-9867-752893f2fad0" original-width="2160" original-height="3840" /][p]Graeme Cadger, who has been appointed to head the testimonial committee, hailed both Martin and Rachael as "[b]Hibs legends in their own rights[/b]".[/p][p]"[b]He was obviously part of a group who provided many of us with one of the best days of our lives at Hampden Park in 2016,[/b]" Cadger added.[/p][p]"But that only tells half of the story, and Martin grew up at the club. He's endured highs and lows, not least through some serious injuries. His resilience to bounce back from those has never been in doubt, and it says a lot about his character.[/p][p]"[b]It's been a pleasure to watch him develop in front of our eyes as a supporter.[/b]"[/p][embed guid="d031e8a6-268f-4545-a000-4bf5b22f860d" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3qTW54XDjU" social-type="youtube" /][infobox id="d39bc573-b9dd-4b87-acb9-2de1f22d36c7" /]