Bio:
Hoddle joined the club as a junior when he was 12, and signed for the club as an apprentice on 17 April 1974. He successfully overcame knee problems in his early teens and collected eight England Youth caps, the first of these on 18 March 1975 against Spain.[15] He made his Spurs first-team debut as a 17-year-old substitute for Cyril Knowles against Norwich City on 30 August 1975, a game that ended 2–2. Hoddle was forced to wait until 21 February 1976 to start a First Division match and immediately announced his arrival with the winning goal, a spectacular strike past Stoke City and England goalkeeper Peter Shilton.
He flourished under the management of Keith Burkinshaw and despite the club’s relegation to the Second Division in 1976–77 after 27 seasons of First Division football, a Hoddle-inspired Spurs side won promotion to the top flight at the first attempt. As Tottenham’s transitional phase continued, Hoddle’s international career began on 15 December 1976 in an Under-21 friendly fixture against Wales. He would collect another eleven caps at that level, and play twice for the England ‘B’ team prior to scoring on his full international debut against Bulgaria on 22 November 1979.
The 1979–80 campaign heralded the emergence of Hoddle as a top-class player; the 22-year-old midfielder scored 19 goals in 41 league appearances and was awarded the PFA Young Player of the Year award at the end of the season. In 1981, he starred as Spurs won the FA Cup for the sixth time, defeating Manchester City after a replay. In the following season Tottenham retained the FA Cup (Hoddle scored in both the Final and Final replay) against Queen’s Park Rangers and finished the League campaign in fourth place, the club’s best league position since 1971. Hoddle performed as the midfield fulcrum in many of these successes and also contributed magnificently as the team reached the final of the League Cup, losing 3–1 to Liverpool, and the semi-final stage of the European Cup Winners Cup. During the summer of 1982, Hoddle played in two of England’s matches in the opening group phase of the FIFA World Cup, starting against Kuwait after a substitute appearance in a 2–0 victory over Czechoslovakia.
Hoddle’s involvement in the following three seasons was limited by a number of niggling injury problems (he started only 76 of a possible 126 league matches) but nevertheless, Hoddle proved to be the architect behind the team’s 1984 UEFA Cup triumph despite missing the Final due to fitness concerns. In October 1983, he helped Spurs win 6–2 on aggregate against a Feyenoord Rotterdam side containing Johan Cruyff. Cruyff was dismissive of Hoddle before their first match,[18] but after Hoddle’s performance, Cruyff swapped shirts with Hoddle as a sign of respect.
Spurs came close to further honours in the next three seasons, reaching third place in the First Division and the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup in 1984–85 and another FA Cup Final in 1987, losing 3–2 to Coventry City, the only time the North London club has experienced defeat in the final of the famous knock-out competition. The unexpected loss to the Midlands side was Hoddle’s last match for Spurs as newly appointed AS Monaco manager Arsène Wenger brought him to the principality for a fee of £750,000. Between 1975 and 1987, the gifted playmaker scored 110 goals in 490 first-team matches in all competitions, only four players (Steve Perryman, Pat Jennings, Gary Mabbutt and Cyril Knowles) have made more appearances in a Spurs shirt. At international level, Hoddle won 44 caps for England during his Tottenham career.
Factfile:
- Full Name: Glenn Hoddle
- Position: Midfield
- Date of Birth: 27.10.1957
- Birthplace: Hayes
- Nation: England
- Full Caps: 53
- Major League Career
- 1975-87, Tottenham Hotspur (377/88)
- 1987-91, Monaco (69/27)
- 1991-93, Swindon Town (67/2)
- 1993-95, Chelsea (31/1)
- More Facts
- Photo Gallery
Leave a Reply