Hodgson, accompanied by assistant Ray Lewington, chatted to players from both the England and Australia teams as they trained ahead of the Ashes finale at the south London ground, which starts on Thursday.
Hodgson had been invited to The Oval by Australia doctor Peter Brukner, who worked with the England boss, when they were both at Premier League giants Liverpool.
The former Reds manager even had time to cast his eye over the England cricketers' warm-up football kickabout before they got down to the serious business of cricket training.
And he stayed on to give a short team talk to Alastair Cook's men, who've already clinched the Ashes after their innings and 78-run win over Australia in the fourth Test at Trent Bridge gave them an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.
Australia's Chris Rogers spoke to Hodgson and afterwards the veteran opening batsman told reporters: "I've been over here a long time and I like watching the football -- particularly how England go out in the big tournaments.