My Sporting Life is The i Paper’s look behind the curtain at what drives sports stars to greatness. Former England and Tottenham maverick Glenn Hoddle speaks with remarkable honesty about being described as a “luxury player,” the toughest opponent he faced, Diego Maradona’s “Hand of God,” music advice from Boy George and his biggest regret.
Football chose me rather than the other way round
I didn’t have a choice. It was in my DNA. I used to sleep with a football until I was nine years old.
There was a couple of things that might have ruined my career. I nearly lost my eye and had my cartilage out when I was 14. But I just loved the game. I’ve never been on drugs in my life, but I felt as if I was on drugs. I thought differently to the era that I played in.
The way I played was more important to me than winning trophies. It’s easy for me to say, but it’s true. It was never hard work for me because I just loved playing.
Being called a ‘luxury player’ never bothered me
It used to make me smile. I always wanted to play abroad. I felt that my style was more suited to the continental game.
I nearly went abroad a couple of times, once to Germany when I was very young, at 20, and then Italy, when I was a bit older. But when I went to Monaco, I worked with Arsene Wenger and the philosophy was totally different. Back when I started, teams never had a No 10.
I got man-marked in France, which didn’t happen in England. That’s why Eric Cantona did well in England but didn’t do well in France, because he couldn’t cope with that man-to-man marking. So it took a bit of adjustment, but I ended up overcoming that and I felt it improved me as a player.
Getting relegated with Tottenham was my lowest point
I was only 18, and we got relegated in 1977. That was the lowest I’ve ever felt without a shadow of a doubt, because it was my team. I’ve supported Tottenham since I was eight years old, and to think I was in a team that got relegated was crucifying for me as a youngster.
But it was good for me in the end, because I learned from it a lot and I learned how to cope with adversity. Some people, they’re great when they’re winning. The minute it goes the other way, they don’t know how to deal with that.
If I could turn back time, that would be the one, because I would approach things so differently now.
Having a perm is my biggest regret
Everyone had a perm back then, so it wasn’t something unusual. But looking back, that was something I shouldn’t have bought. You didn’t used to pay much for a haircut but it cost a fortune.
It took hours. Oh my God, that was the problem. The barber put me in the front seat in his shop in Harlow, which was my town.
I was only a kid but people were walking by and everyone was laughing at me. It was mortifying. So yeah, that was a big personal regret of mine. I can’t look at the photos. I hate it.
The toughest opponent I faced was a player called Jiri Sloup
I’ve got 26 stitches in my forehead to tell you about him. It was the second leg of the Uefa Cup tie against Bohemians Praha, and it was pretty evident after two minutes this fellow was trying to kill me. Dingy, old place we were playing in. The floodlights were dreadful. The pitch wasn’t great.
I remember Ray Clemence threw me the ball, bless him, and I was on my own for a second or two. I could see Sloup coming at me out of the corner of my eye, so I thought I’d flick it round him and spin the other side. He hit me like an express train. His elbow caught me in the head. I tore my groin, so I got stretchered off.
So that was an experience. He was probably the hardest bloke I played against. I wouldn’t want to play against him every week.
Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ played on my mind a hell of a lot
I felt we were cheated. I had to get out of the country. Psychologically, it was tough.
My holiday was a bit later in the summer. I just said, look, we’re getting on a plane, we’re going to go abroad. I watched the World Cup final in Spain somewhere with a load of Germans if I remember rightly.
That was a horrible time. I felt numb. I kept playing it over and over again in my head.
Boy George gave me a music lesson at the urinal
I bumped into him in the men’s toilets in the recording studios, which I can’t remember the name of, where Chris Waddle and I were doing “Diamond Lights”.
I go to the toilet, it’s about two o’clock in the morning and suddenly a fellow walks in behind me. I turned my head and thought, “bloody hell, it’s Boy George!” He was having a pee next to me.
It was a bit of a surreal moment, I’ve got to say. We ended up having a quick chat – he gave me a few tips about music. That was probably the most random [celebrity encounter].
Glenn Hoddle was talking ahead of a month like no other, with five major football finals live on TNT Sports & HBO Max kicking off with the Emirates FA Cup this Saturday.
