Matt Le Tissier has been a legend at Southampton. He retired at the end of the 2002 season, but Saints fans will never forget how, almost single-handedly at times, he kept Saints in the Premiership.
Over 32,000 paid tribute at his testimonial in June 2002.
It all started whilst playing football with Guernsey Schools, Vale Recreation. While touring with the Under-15 side, Matt was spotted by Southampton. He joined Saints as an apprentice in May 1985 and turned professional in October 1986 and has stayed a loyal Saint ever since. In his first season he scored a hat-trick on a snowbound pitch against Leicester and never looked back. In 1989/90 he became the club's penalty taker - he built a reputation for almost faultless spot-kicking.
In the following year he became the P.F.A. Young Player of the Year and received the award from Terry Paine, the famous Southampton winger. Matt has been credited with keeping Saints in the Premiership almost single-handedly throughout the 1990’s with a series of crucial match-winning goals.
Much to the consternation of Southampton fans, Le Tissier was more-or-less overlooked by successive England managers. He was selected to play for his country a total of eight times. He was last in the starting squad for the World Cup 1-0 defeat by Italy at Wembley in 1996. Despite scoring hat-trick in an England 'B' international friendly, Matt was not selected for the 1998 World Cup squad.
