"HODDLE HAD BEEN PLAYING FOR MONACO UNDER WENGER, SO WE COULDN'T BELIEVE IT WHEN HE JOINED SWINDON HE WAS LIGHT-YEARS AHEAD!"

The tireless winger opens up on playing in his dad's shadow and making the wrong kind of headlines at Sunderland...

- Ed McCambridge

Did you know you were one of FFT’s very first subjects for ‘Boy’s A Bit Special’ back in 1994?

No I didn’t, so it was a lovely surprise to be told that and to be asked to feature in FFT’s anniversary edition. When I played seems like a lifetime ago, so the fact that you’re still going strong is fantastic. There were loads of different football magazines at the time, such as Shoot and Match – that was part of the culture back then. But FourFourTwo was and is very special.

Your dad is Mike Summerbee, a legendary player for Manchester City who also made eight senior appearances for England. Is that a help or a hindrance for a youngster coming through?

I didn’t know any different really, but being brought up in Manchester and going to watch City as a youngster, it was clear how much he meant to the supporters. I’d always had that in my life, so it came as no surprise to me, as I made my first steps in the game, that comparisons were drawn between us. That was always going to happen and I just had to accept it – I tried to not let it affect me either way.

You began your Swindon career at a very dramatic time: promotion in 1989-90 was blocked due to financial mismanagement. What was that like to experience?

Well, Swindon aren’t a big club now and they weren’t back then. I don’t say that with any disrespect, though – on the contrary, in fact. The players and managers who the club were able to attract in that era were amazing. Lou Macari was the gaffer when I first went there – ex-Scotland, Celtic and Manchester United, so a huge name. Then Ossie Ardiles came in as manager – a World Cup winner and an absolute legend. Of course, there was some strange financial stuff going on behind the scenes, but as footballers – especially as a young player – you don’t know about any of that. I was focused on trying to break into the first team.