Glenn Hoddle On Legendary Swindon Town Mad Birmingham City Comeback

When he arrived at Swindon towards the end of the 1991/92 season, Hoddle, one of English football’s most technical footballers, had to get across his own style whilst also making sure the club remained in Division Two.

Speaking to The Adver this week, Hoddle remembered how he managed to get the team playing how he wanted to.

He said: “It was difficult in the back end of the season as we had seven games where we had to survive. We went straight into playing three at the back, but staying up was the main objective.

“Once we got into the pre-season, we really bedded down how I wanted them to play, and I remember all of the players taking it on board very quickly.

“I think that we won a tournament in The Netherlands and we shocked a few people out there, and that gave the lads the confidence to play as the Second Division is a tough league to get out of, and also a difficult league to play really stylish football from the back.

“We had a system that no one really knew how to play against as nobody was playing it, not the way we were playing, some teams had a back three with big centre halves to be defensive, but we were doing it for offensive reasons.

“That made us difficult to play against, and it got us up. It is no good just playing pretty football; you have got to have an aim in it.”

Being the man who got Swindon promoted to the Premier League puts Hoddle down in club folklore.

When asked what his favourite memory of his time in Wiltshire was, the former England manager said that mad comeback against Birmingham City stood out among all the great days.

Hoddle particularly remembered speaking with Blues’ manager Terry Cooper after the game and not knowing what to say to him.

He said: “The playoff final day was amazing, but the one that really stands out to me and has made me believe that a game is never over was when we played up at Birmingham.

“We were 4-1 down with about 20 minutes to go, and we won 6-4; it was completely mad.

“Sometimes you just can’t put your finger on it, there was no reason why you have turned it around and won or sometimes it slips away from you.

“Being at St. Andrews and it just turned, we scored goal after goal and we just knew that we were going to win.

“I remember having a beer with Terry Cooper, who was the manager up there, afterwards, and I just looked at him and didn’t know what to say.

“We just had a beer and chatted about everything in the world apart from the match as Terry couldn’t face it.

“I had no words for him, I think we just laughed about it in the end. It was a strange drink we had with their staff as they were shell-shocked. What can you say?”