Former Bishop's Stortford High School cup winner George Hoddle plays part in Cambridge United's historic FA Youth Cup run

Talented youngster George Hoddle played his part in Cambridge United's memorable run to the quarter-finals of the FA Youth Cup, which came to an end against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday night (February 23).

The lifelong Tottenham Hotspur supporter, whose dad is Spurs legend and former England manager Glenn Hoddle's cousin, helped the U's reach the last eight of the competition for the first time in their history.

The midfielder, who captained The Bishop's Stortford High School's under-14s to national PlayStation FC Schools' Cup glory in October 2020, was in the starting line-up for last week's glamour tie against the Gunners, played out in front of a 7,454-strong crowd.

And the young U's, who put in a performance to be proud of, looked like they had forced the tie against their Premier League opponents into extra time at two goals apiece, but, with the clock having just ticked past 90 minutes, the visitors suffered a devastating blow to lose 3-2.

United beat Stevenage, Portsmouth and Colchester United in the early rounds of the competition before beating nine-time winners Chelsea in round four.

That was followed by a very professional showing in a 2-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday which set up the trip to north London.

And Hoddle is delighted to have been part of the club's historic FA Youth Cup adventure, with his famous relative always there to offer valuable support and encouragement.

"I'm a Spurs fan, it runs through the family," he said. "Glenn is great with me. He's always there for advice and I try to speak to him a lot.

"Having someone like him, who was as good as he was and been that successful, to go to can only be a good thing when it comes to big games."