"God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast and when I run, I feel his pleasure."
Spurred to Success
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Glenn Hoddle, London, Queen Anne Press. 1987. ISBN0-356-12797-4
The book is a traditional football autobiography, which covers Hoddle’s Tottenham career 1975-87 as well as his playing for England, including the 1986 World Cup. There are several photographs of his wife and children.
There is a chapter entitled “my faith” in which Hoddle’s introduction to faith healing by Eileen Drewery and how he reacted, is described. There is a mention of the influence of Cliff Richard, whom Hoddle had heard on television talking about Christianity. An initial reaction was: “It was frustrating. I didn’t believe that is capable of changing my way of life dramatically enough to enable me to live according to the Christian way of life.
A trip to Israel with England and seeing the place in Bethlehem where Jesus was born left him with “strong spiritual sensation…I experienced a very strong spiritual feeling that this was right…Just being there and considering the historical life of Jesus”.
Eileen Drewery told him that her healing powers came from God and that she believed in Jesus. At that stage, Glenn’s wife Anne was a regular churchgoer and he then decided to join her. He read Gerald Williams’ book A whole new ball game. He read with interest how professional footballer, Alan West, had turned to Christianity.
He describes his own journey: “The confusion had disappeared. I realized I didn’t have to make that huge jump. God comes into people’s lives in different ways. It doesn’t matter if you’re a sportsman or whether you have a strict religious background. Now my faith got stronger and stronger by the day. My life had changed.”
He started going to church regularly.