How Glenn Hoddle went from The Sun Inn to leading his country to a World Cup
He was one of the players of his generation and led his country to a World Cup, but did you know that Glenn Hoddle’s managerial career all started in the pub?
As the former England boss and BT Sport pundit chatted to players at our Pub Cup Southern semi-finals at Bisham Abbey, he revealed how the action was not a million miles from his first job on the sideline.
“Grassroots and pubs have always been important. When I was 17 or 18 and had just made my first team debut at Spurs, I was the manager of a pub team. It was The Sun Inn at Nazeing and we played in the Harlow league.”
It was the first step on a managerial ladder than eventually led to Glenn taking England to the 1998 World Cup in France, as well as stints at clubs including Chelsea and Tottenham.
“It was the local pub where we drank, and I knew the lads.
“I used to go to watch them and in the end, they asked me to coach. I was only young, but it was a great experience for me to take over a men’s team.”
“It was some of the funniest and best times I’ve had in football. We had a good side, and we won the cup. There was great camaraderie and banter, but the football was serious.”
And that spirit was evident at the semi-finals of the Pub Cup at both Bisham Abbey and in Manchester.
Glenn continued:
The standard’s much better than I thought – I wasn’t sure what to expect when I was getting involved with the Pub Cup! There are some good sides here. You can see a lot of these are teams and they all play together on a Saturday or Sunday. There are some good individuals as well.
Glenn is now keen to pass on his insights to the teams taking part in finals day at Wembley.
“That link has always been there between pubs and football but to have tournaments like this and the incentive to go to Wembley is just the icing on the cake for them all.
“I have really enjoyed it and I am looking forward to getting involved at Wembley.”
The Pub Cup continues with seven-a-side tournament this Sunday August 1 at Manchester City Etihad Campus.
The winning teams in each event will progress to an 11-a-side final at Wembley on Sunday August 8.
We’ll keep you posted with live updates from the events on our Twitter feed @BTSportBars and with stories here at https://btsportbusiness.com/pub-cup
