Glenn Hoddle

Did You Know?

• In May 1987, Hoddle released the pop single 'Diamond Lights', a duet with Chris Waddle, which reached number 12 in the UK singles chart.
• In 2021, Hoddle appeared as a contestant on the second series of the British version of The Masked Singer, masked as the Grandfather Clock, finishing in ninth place.
• Hoddle began working as a pundit for ESPN during Euro 2012.

Early life

Glenn Hoddle came into the world in 1957 in Harlington, Middlesex, born to Derek and Teresa. The family lived in Hillingdon, where young Glenn watched his father play for Uxbridge in the Corinthian League. When he was four, they moved to Harlow, Essex. There he attended St Alban's Primary School and later Burnt Mill Comprehensive. At eight, he became a Tottenham Hotspur supporter, idolising Martin Chivers. When Hoddle was 11, Chivers and Ray Evans spotted his talent at a school cup final, and on Chivers's advice, he was asked to train with Spurs in Cheshunt. By 15, he was playing Sunday league football for Longmans in Harlow, alongside his father.

Playing career

Hoddle joined Tottenham as a junior at 12 and signed as an apprentice on 17 April 1974. After overcoming knee problems in his early teens, he earned eight England Youth caps, the first on 18 March 1975 against Spain. He made his Spurs first-team debut as a 17-year-old substitute for Cyril Knowles against Norwich City on 30 August 1975, a 2–2 draw, and started his first First Division match on 21 February 1976, scoring the winning goal. His international career began on 15 December 1976 in an Under-21 friendly against Wales, and he scored on his full England debut against Bulgaria on 22 November 1979.

In 1979–80, he scored 19 goals in 41 league appearances and won the PFA Young Player of the Year award. He starred in Tottenham's 1981 FA Cup win over Manchester City after a replay, and the following season they retained the FA Cup, with Hoddle scoring in both the final and final replay against Queen's Park Rangers. Tottenham finished fourth in the league, reached the League Cup final (losing 3–1 to Liverpool) and the European Cup Winners Cup semi-final.

At the 1982 World Cup, Hoddle played in two group matches, starting against Kuwait after a substitute appearance against Czechoslovakia.

Managerial career

Hoddle arrived at Swindon in March 1991, when the club was struggling after a financial scandal that had stripped them of promotion to the First Division and forced the sale of key players including Alan McLoughlin. He prevented Swindon from slipping into the Third Division, and in 1991–92 they finished eighth, briefly leading the table in October. In 1993, Swindon reached the playoffs of rebranded Division One, beat Leicester City 4–3 at Wembley, and were promoted to the Premier League; Hoddle scored Swindon's first goal of the final.

Days after promotion, he accepted the offer to manage Chelsea and was succeeded at Swindon by his assistant John Gorman. In June 1993, Hoddle became player-manager of Chelsea, with former Tottenham manager Peter Shreeves as his assistant. In his first season, Chelsea reached the FA Cup final, losing 4–0 to Manchester United, but earned a European Cup Winners' Cup place as Manchester United had won the double. Chelsea finished 14th in the league that season.

In 1994–95, they reached the European Cup Winners' Cup semi-finals, losing by a single goal to Real Zaragoza. Hoddle guided Chelsea to the FA Cup semi-finals in 1995–96, but they finished 11th in the Premiership, a position they had occupied three times in four years. He established Chelsea as a force in cup competitions and attracted top-class players such as Ruud Gullit, Mark Hughes, Dan Petrescu, Gavin Peacock, David Rocastle and Mark Stein.

Personal life and health

Glenn Hoddle became a born-again Christian after a personal experience during a holiday in Israel in 1986. He has been married twice: first to Christine Ann Stirling from 1979 to 1998, and then to Vanessa Colburn from 2000 to 2015. He has three children from his first marriage. His uncle, Dave, was a member of the Stansted team that won the FA Vase in 1984. In 1996, Hoddle's younger brother, former footballer Carl Hoddle, survived a paracetamol overdose. Carl later died suddenly at age 40 in March 2008 from a brain aneurysm. On his 61st birthday, 27 October 2018, Hoddle suffered a cardiac arrest in a London TV studio and underwent emergency heart surgery. He was saved by BT Sport employee Simon Daniels, who used a defibrillator. Hoddle was discharged from St Bartholomew's Hospital on 23 November 2018 to recover at home. His autobiography, Playmaker, was released in 2021.