Matt Le Tissier
After a trial at Oxford United, who rejected him for being overweight, Le Tissier signed for Southampton in May 1985.
Matt played his first professional game on September 2, 1986 and went on to play 443 league games for Southampton, 52 League Cup games, 33 FA Cup games and 12 other official games, making a total of 540. He scored 209 goals for his club including 49 out of 50 penalties!
His top scoring season was 1993-94, when he scored 30 goals, made more remarkable due to his struggling side. The following season he won the coveted Match Of The Day Goal of the Season award for his drifting 40-yard lob against Blackburn Rovers.
Already well established in Southampton folk-lore, he scored the last goal in the final competitive match played at The Dell on May 19, 2001 against Arsenal. After being out most of the season due to injury, he was brought on as a substitute near the end of the match to the delight of the fans, and sticking to a “boys-own” script, he scored a spectacular left-footed volley on the turn from outside the penalty box to earn The Saints a 3-2 win; this turned out to be Arsenal’s last away defeat for over a year.
England – As a Channel Islander, he was eligible for any of the Home Nations teams as well as eligible to play for France!
He played 8 times for England from 1994 to 1998.
His crowning international moment was his hat-trick for the England B team in a game against Russia in which he also hit the crossbar twice, prior to the 1998 World Cup Finals. Despite his sterling performance, in a bitter-sweet end to his international career manager Glenn Hoddle failed to select Le Tissier for the full World Cup squad.
Matt has been honoured by receiving the freedom of the city of Southampton and has also had one of the luxurious hospitality suites at the St Mary’s Stadium named after him. An apartment block built on the old site of The Dell is also named after him.
On 7 February 2007, Le Tissier had a plane in the Flybe fleet named after him on his home island of Guernsey.
After retiring as a player, Matt now works as a pundit on Soccer Saturday for Sky Sports, and is a very popular and humorous speaker on the After Dinner Circuit.
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