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When he signed for Tottenham Hotspur on 23 December 1986, Steve Hodge
was a suitably cultured addition to a midfield boasting Glenn Hoddle,
Chris Waddle and Osvaldo Ardiles. The £650, 000 capture from Aston Villa
was a player very much in the Spurs mould - stylish and subtle, having
cut his creative teeth under Brian Clough at Nottingham Forest. Hodge
was equally comfortable in the centre or on the left and was a regular
goalscorer in his formative years at the City Ground.
He
initially endeared himself to the Spurs faithful with a debut goal in a
4-0 Boxing Day win over London rivals West Ham. Three more league goals
followed in a promising first half-season; a brace in a 3-0 home win
over Aston Villa in late Janaury followed by a further strike in the
next league game as Southampton were beaten 2-1 at White Hart Lane. As
Spurs chased success on three fronts, Hodge contributed well to a fluent
attacking machine geared towards servicing the prolific Clive Allen.
But as the title challenge trailed away, defeats then followed to arch
rivals Arsenal in the League Cup semi-final and Coventry City in the FA
Cup final, leaving Spurs wondering what might have been.
With
the departures of Hoddle, Richard Gough and manager David Pleat in the
summer of 1987, the club's fortunes dipped and, without the faith of the
manager who had brought him to London, so too did Hodge's form. A
disappointing season followed for the midfielder and he managed just
three more goals in his 26 appearances. Despite having appeared in all
five of England's matches at the 1986 World Cup - contributing assists
for two of Gary Lineker's six goals - Steve was left out of Bobby
Robson's squad for the European Championships in 1988.
With the
decline in Hodge's form came loss of favour among the fans, who
increasingly felt his heart was elsewhere. It was no surprise when Terry
Venables, the new Spurs manager, accepted Forest's bid of £550, 000 in
August 1988. Hodge was reunited with his boyhood club and a dramatic
return to form followed. He was back in the England squad for the
friendly against Denmark that September and Forest's League Cup wins in
1989 and 1990 finally provided the domestic success that had narrowly
eluded him at White Hart Lane. With his recaptured fortunes, there was a
feeling that Hodge was back where he belonged, a fact reflected in the
hostile reception he received from the Spurs fans when appearing as an
opposing substitute in the 1991 FA Cup final. Spurs were victorious, and
it's probably ironic that supporters' fondest memory of him would be as
a Forest player. (Alex Voskou).
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