BT Sport Films: Glenn Hoddle looks back on his career in football in new documentary

Glenn Hoddle: Extra Time, the documentary produced in-house by the award-winning BT Sport Films team, is to premiere on December 8 on BT Sport 1 at 10pm.

Glenn Hoddle is widely considered one of English football’s most talented midfielders in history and is viewed by many as the England national team’s most forward-thinking manager to date. 

At the same time, Hoddle has courted significant controversy with his perceived approach to the game. Now one of the game’s leading television analysts, Glenn takes the viewer on a highly personal journey, interweaving the story of his career, image and playing style with a quest to lay misunderstandings to rest. This is the story of Glenn Hoddle, through the eyes of Glenn Hoddle.

Sally Brown, executive producer, BT Sport Films, said: “This is a thoughtful film and the approach we have taken allows Glenn to look back on pivotal moments in his football career. He feels, following his survival from a cardiac arrest, that he has been given extra time and it has been a privilege to go on this journey with him.”

The film opens with Hoddle describing what happened on the day of his cardiac arrest, reflecting on his good fortune at being given 'extra time' to reflect on his life and career. It then explores key moments with Hoddle giving his own reflections away from the headlines. These include aspects such as:

The ‘Luxury Player’: often labelled by press and pundits as a ‘luxury player’, Glenn speaks to his playing contemporaries to explore his playing style and career.

England midfielder: Glenn won 53 caps but perhaps he should have played even more. The film explores his thoughts on this. Was he arrogant to think that England should have built a team around him?

Leaving Spurs: Glenn was a Spurs legend – he’d made his debut as a 17-year-old and helped Spurs win two FA Cups and a UEFA Cup. Yet in 1987 he decided to leave to join Monaco. It would be a pivotal moment in his football career and in Monaco, Hoddle thrived – winning the title and finally achieving ownership of the number 10 'playmaker' shirt.

Management: Glenn’s management career moved quickly, from player/manager with Swindon, to Chelsea and then England in the space of just five years. For many he was visionary, exciting and new; for others he was aloof and allegedly would annoy players by demonstrating technical drills better than players in training.

England manager: Without winning any major trophies and still only 38, Hoddle was given the biggest football job in the country. Glenn’s England career is often distilled down to two incidents – firstly his decision to not select Gazza for the World Cup of 1998 and then the defeat by Argentina in the last 16 of the tournament. In the film, Glenn reflects on whether he was too young for the role.

Eileen Drewery: As a 17-year-old she ‘cured’ Glenn’s hamstring injury using her methods and he was forever enamoured with her abilities. He often encouraged England players to see her for injuries, if they were open to this, and was roundly mocked in the press and later by some senior players. 

‘That’ Interview: The most controversial aspect of Glenn’s management career – possibly his whole life – was the interview he gave to The Times in January 1999. In this film Glenn explores how this unfolded, and - over two decades on - shares his own perspective on what happened.

This is an in-house production led by Director and Producer team, Isobel Williams and Mark Sharman, with Sally Brown its executive producer for BT Sport. It continues a compelling 2021 from BT Sport Films with six new in-house documentaries to be broadcast across the year.

These include Make It Or Die trying: The Frank Warren Story, a unique biopic which reveals how the eponymous promoter rose from humble beginnings in North London to multimillion pound deals in Las Vegas. And in May, BT Sport premiered George Best: True Genius, which takes viewers on an evocative journey of how Best rose to become the best player in the world.

Customers can watch Glenn Hoddle: Extra Time in more ways than ever before, with the BT Sport app now available on a wide range of large screen devices and platforms including Samsung smart TVs, Now TV, Sony PlayStation, Xbox and Apple TV, as well as mobiles, tablets, BT TV, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media.