Glenn Hoddle is excited to return to his hometown and share stories from his career for ‘An Evening with Glenn Hoddle’ at Beck Theatre, Hayes next month.

The gifted midfielder, who won 53 caps for England, scoring eight times and currently works as a pundit for ITV Sport and BT Sport, was born in Hayes in 1957.

Following a major health scare last October when Hoddle suffered a heart attack whilst working for BT Sport, the England legend is thrilled to be able to still be here to share his career experiences with fans.

Hoddle said: “It was a massive scare and the last year has been an emotional journey, a tough journey physically and mentally but I’ve come out the other end and I’m pretty much back to how I was. 

“When something like that happens your perspective changes so I’m delighted to still be here and delighted to be able to sit around and share some experiences that I’ve had over the years as a player and as a person with all these people.” 

Hoddle played for Tottenham, Monaco, Swindon and Chelsea, the latter two as player-manager, before managing England, Southampton, Tottenham and Wolves.

He said: “There’s so many stories and stories behind the stories from my career that I think people will be interested in.

“I want people to come and see me as I really am, different to what they might view me as a footballer, a manager or a pundit and I hope people enjoy themselves and feel relaxed as if we were at home and having a chat.”

Hoddle’s England career spanned from 1979-1988 and he scored from outside the area on his debut in 1979, a 2-0 win over Bulgaria - a memory that he is particularly fond of.

He said: “My first ever game for England was just a dream come true and to manage to score quite a special goal I couldn’t have asked for anything more really.

“To put that Three Lions shirt on for your first time and to score a special goal will always stay in my memory.”

Hoddle is no stranger to scoring spectacular goals, with memorable efforts including a mazy run against Oxford United, a deft chip against Watford and an emphatic volley against Nottingham Forest but he lists one specific effort as his favourite.

He explained: “People still come up to me in the streets to talk to me about different goals but my special one is the volley I scored against Manchester United in the League Cup.” 

England secured qualification for Euro 2020 with a 7-0 hammering of Montenegro last month and Hoddle is enthusiastic about the nation’s chances next summer.

Hoddle said: “They’re a very exciting group of players, attacking wise they’re as good as anyone.

“It’s the fruits of the development of youngsters around the country through academies, it took us a long while to catch up the Dutch, the French and the Spanish but we’re very much on that route now and we can see it in the younger players that are coming through.

“Defensively I think they need to come on a little bit better and how defensively we cope with the better teams is the real test for me. 

“There’s a lot of pace about England when we watch them play so I think it’s really quite healthy for the future, but you’ve got to balance it off with the right defending against the top teams.”

Tickets for the event ‘An Evening with Glenn Hoddle’ at Beck Theatre Hayes on January 12 can be purchased here.

Feature image by Vinod Divakaran on flikr.