Catching up with...Hoddle, Perryman and Roberts on Glenn's iconic goal at Watford

Glenn Hoddle scored one of the Club’s great league goals at Watford in 1983. As we travel to Vicarage Road again this weekend, we asked Glenn, Steve Perryman and Graham Roberts - on the pitch with Glenn that day -  for their memories of that turn and that chip...

For those not around to remember it, Garry Brooke played the ball into Glenn from our right. Glenn was in the right channel of the penalty box, back to goal, tightly marked. His first touch was a backheel flick to lose his man and his next touch, a sublime chip over goalkeeper Steve Sherwood.

Alan Parry, a commentator at the highest level for 40 years for BBC, ITV and Sky, was in the commentary box for Match of the Day that day. “It was a privilege to commentate on that goal,” he told us last season.

We won 3-2 thanks to Glenn’s moment of magic, a cracker from Steve Archibald and a goal from Chris Hughton.

Here's what Glenn, Steve and Graham remember about that goal...

Graham Roberts: “I remember Brookesy (Garry Brooke) played it into you, right side of the box.”

Glenn Hoddle: “I’ve got to say, I don’t know where that goal came from, I really don’t! I remember I was not having a great time at that point, I wasn’t in great form and up to that game, I wasn’t really playing at my best. I didn’t feel I was in form, strangely enough. I look back at that goal sometimes and wonder where it came from.”

Robbo: “I think we were struggling a bit at that time as a team.”

Glenn: “I knew I wasn’t in form and I was putting pressure on myself, thinking ‘come on, what’s wrong?’ because I was going through a bad patch. That came from nowhere. I hadn’t tried it in training or anything like that and that goal dragged me out of that poor form.”

Robbo: “I think the goalkeeper was at fault!" (laughter all round).

Below: Glenn in action that day at Vicarage Road

Steve Perryman: “I think Glenn’s main ability was that he truly believed in himself. I know he’s saying to us now that he wasn’t playing well at the time, but he had that overall confidence in his own ability to do things on a football pitch and he wasn’t frightened to do something different and maybe not succeed. That goal was a product of that thinking. Even when he wasn’t feeling on top of his game he was prepared to risk it. If he gave the ball away, 20 thousand people would jeer and get on his back because he’s Glenn Hoddle and he just messed up. But he was prepared to do it. I only scored goals when I didn’t really know I was scoring them. It would go in and I would say ‘wow, I’ve scored’, but Glenn wasn’t like that.”

Glenn: “I watched a replay of one of your goals the other day. I think it was against Burnley (1970).”

Stevie P: “The thing about a goal like that was that you’d normally go home and people might phone you, your dad, your family and they’d say ‘he didn’t mean that’ but you could not say that about Glenn. We know he did. He said he didn’t do it in training but I’ve got to say, Glenn, I saw you do that loads of times! And thank goodness we did - it was a pleasure.”