FRANCE 98 – General Media News Template

England coach Glenn Hoddle praised controversial faith healer Eileen Drewery here on Sunday saying that she deserved some of the credit for England’s World Cup qualification success.

Hoddle, who is a born again christian and has believed in Drewery’s abilities since the day he first met her 24 years ago, has been criticised for using Drewery with the England squad but he insisted she had played her part during the qualifying stages. “It’s a very personal thing but it’s one that works,”  Hoddle said. “Anybody who sees her will gain whether it’s a physical or mental problem.”Three-quarters of the group have been seeing her for 18 months. Many players have gone back between England games for healing so the proof is there. “She has contributed and it was only fair to her and everyone else that we brought this out in the open. “She has contributed to our qualifying. She was involved way way back in the Moldova game. That was the first time she saw players. “We’ve two masseuses, two physios, two doctors and Eileen as well. “People out there should be thinking that’s pretty professional to me. That sounds like we’re covering every conceivable angle. ”  I’d used Eileen for many, many years when I was manager at Swindon and Chelsea. “It’s been something I know works. It’s scientific to me because I’ve experienced it. I would not have been doing my job right in many ways if I hadn’t used it for England.

There was widespread astonishment when Hoddle announced on April 20 that he would be using Drewery to help his squad prepare for the World Cup finals, which begin in France on June 10. Drewery, the housewife who first laid her hands upon the teenage Hoddle 24 years ago, was able to “trigger”  the body’s “natural mechanism”  for healing, the coach claimed.

Using her faith healing could work in tandem with modern techniques of physiotherapy and massage, a way of ensuring the England team fly to France to challenge for glory in the best possible mental and physical shape, he said.

And as disbelief echoed round English households, those doubting her mystic talents were derided by Hoddle for having “closed minds” .