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Glenn Hoddle: 'I Remember It As If It Was Yesterday!'20 YEARS ON: we speak to Town legend Glenn Hoddle about THAT day at Wembley- Glenn's memories of Town's incredible play-off win
- Can Swindon ever achieve the Premier League again?
It's a game no true Swindon fan will ever forget - or possibly see again.
It was 20 years ago this week that Town dramatically beat Leicester City 4-3 at Wembley in one of the most memorable play-off finals ever played.
A victory that took Swindon to the top table of English football for their one - and only - season.
So who better to ask about THAT day that the man who guided the Robins to the dream of the Premier League - and even scored in the final itself - Glen Hoddle.
We caught up with Town's former player manager at the recent BMW PGA Championships.
And as the great man told us -
"anything can happen in football... keep dreaming!"
Swindon Town 4 Leicester City 3
Date:
Monday, May 31, 1993
Against: Leicester City At stake: Top division football (now called the Premiership) after all
Background:
By the time they overcame Tranmere Rovers over two epic play-off semi-final legs, Hoddle had built a team that oozed quality but didn’t lack endeavour, and was led by example by the most skillful player ever to wear the red shirt.
Town team: Digby, Summerbee, Bodin, Hoddle, Calderwood,
Taylor, Moncur (Hazard), MacLaren, Mitchell, Ling, Maskell (White).
Opponents:
Poole, Mills, Whitlow, Smith, Walsh, Hill, Oldfield,
Thompson, Joachim, Agnew, Philpott.
Result: Town won a rollercoaster game 4-3. The goals: 42 minutes: it’s Hoddle himself, characteristically passing the ball into the next to round off a typically fluent Town move (1-0).
47 minutes: Craig Maskell’s precise shot goes in off the post (2-0). 53 minutes: just when it seemed that life couldn’t get any better, Shaun Taylor beats the keeper to the ball to head Town into what must be an unassailable lead (3-0).
57 minutes: suspicions of a foul on Town keeper Fraser Digby are overlooked as Julian Joachim pulls one back (3-1).
69 minutes: the equaliser isn’t long in coming and Leicester’s comeback is complete as Steve Thompson bundles the ball home (3-3).
84 minutes: substitute Steve White takes a controversial tumble in the box and, with many Town fans unable to watch, Paul Bodin somehow stays calm enough to score from the penalty spot and give the game its final twist (4-3).
Town’s hero on the day:
Paul Bodin, who was the coolest man in the stadium when he took the penalty that finally killed off never-say-die Leicester.
What happened next?
Despite their flair, Town were ill-equipped for their season in the Premiership – a fact that Hoddle seemed to anticipate as he accepted a job at Chelsea before the Wembley cheers had died down.
His former assistant, John Gorman, was left to oversee what eventually became a painful year of sometimes heavy defeats in the promised land, with just a few silver linings.
WATCH VIDEO
Swindon Town 4 Leicester City 3
Division One Play-Off Final
Thanks to Paul Plowman and his fantastic Swindon Town history site for posting these clips on YouTube. |
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