Martin HODGE

Leicester City FC

Martin Hodge - Leicester City FC - League appearances.

Photo/Foto: Stuart Franklin

Date: 02 November 1989

Click on image to enlarge

    • POSITION
      Goalkeeper
    • DATE OF BIRTH
      Wednesday, 04 February 1959
    • PLACE OF BIRTH
      Southport, England.
  • CLUBS
  • Everton FC
    • Club Career Dates
      1979-1983
    • League Debut
      Tuesday, 13th November 1979 in a 5-1 win at home to Leeds United (Aged: 20)
    • Club Career
      (July 1979-Aug 1983)
      25 League apps
  • Leicester City FC
    • Club Career Dates
      1988-1991
    • League Debut
      Saturday, 27th August 1988 in a 1-1 draw at home to West Bromwich Albion (Aged: 29)
    • Club Career
      75 League apps
  • Sheffield Wednesday
    • Club Career Dates
      1983-1988
    • League Debut
      Saturday, 27th August 1983 in a 1-0 win at Swansea City (Aged: 24)
    • Club Career
      197 League apps
prostate cancer appeal T-shirt offers. 25 years of sporting history.

Martin HODGE - Leicester City FC - League appearances.

Goalkeeper Martin Hodge is pictured playing for Leicester City in their 0-0 draw

against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

 

Club career: 75 league appearances.

 


Plymouth Argyle:   1977-1978     Played   5     Scored   0   goals   (Division 3)
     1978-1979     Played   38     Scored   0   goals   (Division 3)
 
Transferred in July 1979
 
Everton:   1979-1980     Played   23     Scored   0   goals   (Division 1)
     1980-1981     Played   2     Scored   0   goals   (Division 1)
     1981-1982     Played   0     Scored   0   goals   (Division 1)
 
Preston North End:   1981-1982     Played   28     Scored   0   goals   (Division 3)   (on   loan)
 
Everton:   1982-1983     Played   0     Scored   0   goals   (Division 1)
 
Oldham Athletic:   1982-1983     Played   4     Scored   0   goals   (Division 2)   (on   loan)
 
Gillingham:   1982-1983     Played   4     Scored   0   goals   (Division 3)   (on   loan)
 
Preston North End:   1982-1983     Played   16     Scored   0   goals   (Division 3)   (on   loan)
 
Transferred from Everton in August 1983
 
Sheffield Wednesday:   1983-1984     Played   42     Scored   0   goals   (Division 2)
     1984-1985     Played   42     Scored   0   goals   (Division 1)
     1985-1986     Played   42     Scored   0   goals   (Division 1)
     1986-1987     Played   42     Scored   0   goals   (Division 1)
     1987-1988     Played   29     Scored   0   goals   (Division 1)
 
Transferred in August 1988
 
Leicester:   1988-1989     Played   19     Scored   0   goals   (Division 2)
     1989-1990     Played   46     Scored   0   goals   (Division 2)
     1990-1991     Played   10     Scored   0   goals   (Division 2)
 
Transferred to Hartlepool United in August 1991
 

 

Martin Hodge was born in Southport, Merseyside on 4 February 1959. He was spotted by Plymouth Argyle while playing for the amateur team Southport Trinity and was given a trial by the Devon Club. He signed as an apprentice for Argyle, and graduated through their youth scheme to make his debut during the 1977–78 season. He signed as a professional in February 1977, as he turned 18 years old. He played five times during 1977–78 and then forced his way into the first team to be the regular goalkeeper for 1978–79. Argyle had a pretty average season in Division Three that year but Hodge’s form caught the eye of Everton and he signed for them in July 1979 for a fee of £135,000. The 20-year-old Hodge had been signed by Everton as second choice keeper to George Wood, however Hodge forced his way into the first team in November 1979 with his good early form and played 23 league matches that season plus an FA Cup semi-final against West Ham United. After that first season Hodge’s opportunities were limited by the arrival of Neville Southall and he had spells on loan at Preston North End, Oldham Athletic and Gillingham before moving to Sheffield Wednesday in the summer of 1983 in a £50,000 deal.

 

Hodge was a typical signing by the then Wednesday manager Howard Wilkinson in that he was a player who had shown early promise but had lost his way somewhat. Hodge was not expected to be first choice for Wednesday for the 1983-84 season with Iain Hesford expected to be number one goalkeeper. However a combination of Hodge’s good pre season form and Hesford’ weight problems ensured that Hodge played the opening match of the season against Swansea City and never looked back.

 

His time at Sheffield Wednesday was excellent he played 214 consecutive League and Cup matches, a club record beating Mark Hooper’s previous record of 189 and was part of the Wednesday side which gained promotion back to Division One in 1983–84 and then had several good seasons on their return to the top flight.

In total Hodge played 246 times for Wednesday and kept 60 clean sheets before leaving for Leicester City in March 1988, he is remembered at Hillsborough as a fine goalkeeper. Hodge was part of an unusual and rare incident on 25 October 1986 when during the Sheffield Wednesday v Coventry City match, City goalkeeper Steve Ogrizovic scored a freak goal directly from a kick out of his hand with the help of a following wind. This was an embarrassing incident for Hodge and one that he was continually reminded of by fans for many years. Hodge’s excellent form at Wednesday made him a favourite to make the England squad for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, however Hodge missed out at the last minute when Gary Bailey recovered from injury.

 

Hodge has said that this was the biggest disappointment of his career.

Hodge’s £250,000 move to Leicester was not a great success, as he tore a stomach muscle in his first match and was out injured for several months. He made 80 appearances in three years before moving to Hartlepool in the summer of 1991, where he stayed for two years before joining Rochdale for a season. In the summer of 1994 he moved back to his first club Plymouth, where he played for two seasons and was also involved in coaching the youth team before retiring from professional football in May 1996.

 

In the summer of 1996 Martin Hodge returned to Sheffield Wednesday as goalkeeping coach. He later also took charge of the reserve team before being released by the club in July 2004, when he moved to Leeds United to be their goalkeeping coach. With the advent of new Leeds manager Dennis Wise in October 2006, Martin Hodge was relieved of his duties as goalkeeping coach and left the club.

 

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; Wikipeida.