HarperNonFiction scores Glenn Hoddle's autobiography

HarperNonFiction has scored former footballer and England manager Glenn Hoddle's autobiography.

Editorial director Joel Simons acquired world all-language rights to Playmaker by Hoddle and Jacob Steinberg, football writer at the Guardian, from Tom Caplan at 10Ten Management (for Hoddle) and Ben Dunn at Dunn Literary (for Steinberg). The book will publish on 11th November 2021. 

Hoddle was a creator and goalscorer who rose through the Tottenham youth academy playing under Keith Burkinshaw, crossing paths with the likes of club legends Bill Nicholson and Danny Blanchflower before going on to play in Monaco under the tutelage of Arsène Wenger. In Playmaker, he looks back on his rise as a prodigious young footballer and talks at length about his career that took him from cleaning the cockerel at White Hart Lane to managing the England men's football team at a World Cup. 

"From scoring in an FA Cup final to winning the league in France; from revitalising Chelsea in the early 1990s, to managing the fallout after David Beckham’s infamous sending off at the 1998 World Cup; from surviving a near-fatal cardiac arrest at the age of 61, to continuing to work within the game he loves, Playmaker is a life led through football, and an autobiography of one of the game’s most admired, thoughtful and respected personalities," said the publisher. 

Hoddle said: “I’m delighted to be working with Joel and the HarperNonFiction team to publish my autobiography this autumn. I’ve had a career of many ups and downs, but I’ve always remained devoted to football, a game I’ve loved since I could kick a ball. I’ve played and coached at the very highest level and I can’t wait to tell my story."

Simons added: “I’m thrilled to be publishing Glenn Hoddle’s brilliant Playmaker. Glenn’s career is astonishing and his book is full of brilliant anecdotes, insight and wonderful stories of players he played alongside, classic goals he scored and unique individuals he coached over the years.”