Matthew Paul Le Tissier was born on 14th October 1968 in Guernsey. He is an English football television pundit and former professional footballer. Matt Le Tissier spent his entire professional club career with Southampton and won eight caps for the England national team before turning to non-League football in 2002.

Matt Le Tissier's achievements are ever-growing from his time on and off the pitch. His loyalty garnered special recognition from Southampton supporters who nicknamed Le Tissier ‘Le God’.

Who Is Matt Le Tissier?

Matt Le Tissier is the second-highest ever scorer for Southampton, behind Mick Channon and was voted PFA Young Player of the Year in 1990. He was the first midfielder to score 100 goals in the Premier League. He is notable for his record at scoring penalty kicks, having converted from the spot 47 times from 48 attempts - and is considered one of the greatest ever from the 12-yard spot.

Once he retired as a player, Matt Le Tissier became a football pundit, and worked as a panelist on the Sky Sports show ‘Soccer Saturday’ until August 2020. In 2011 he became honorary president of Guernsey FC. In 2020 he was voted the Eurosport Best Premier League Player of All Time, ahead of many world-renowned Premier League footballers, such as Christiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Alan Shearer and Thierry Henry.

Becoming Le God

Matt Le Tissier signed for Southampton on its Youth Training Scheme in 1985 and then signed professionally for them in October 1986. Le Tissier made his club debut in a 4-3 defeat at Norwich City in the Football League First Division and by the end of his first season had scored six goals in 24 league games, including a hat trick against Leicester City. Matt scored his first two goals in a League Cup game to Manchester United on the 4th November 1986, Southampton won 4-1 in that game.

Le Tissier made 19 first team league appearances in 1987-88 failing to score, but in 1988-89 he scored nine times in 28 league games. He was voted PFA Young Player of the Year for the 1989-90 season, in which he was one of the league’s top goalscorers with 20 goals as Southampton finished seventh in the First Division, the club’s highest finish for five years.

Matt’s highest scoring league season was 1993-94 where he scored 25 league goals. The following season he won the Match of the Day Goal of the Season award for his drifting 40-yard chip against Blackburn Rovers, scoring against his long-term friend and former Southampton Goalkeeper, Tim Flowers.

Matt Le Tissier’s goal tally for the season regularly went well into double figures for the league alone throughout the 1990s. It played a huge role in Southampton keeping their top status into the new millennium as they came close to victory on five occasions in the first seven seasons of the Premier League. This included one season when they only survived on goal difference. Matt was the main interest from many of the big clubs in England and overseas during this time, particularly from clubs such as Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United, but the transfer never happened Le Tissier remained a Southampton player until his retirement. In August 1995 it was reported that Chelsea made a £10million bid for Le Tissier which would have made him the most expensive player in English football at the current time. Shortly afterwards, the defending league champions, Blackburn Rovers, were reportedly planning to sign him for a similar sized fee.

On the 2nd April 2000, Matt Le Tissier scored a last minute penalty for Southampton in a 2-1 win to Sunderland. This brought his tally of Premiership goals to 100, making him only the sixth player and first midfielder to reach this milestone.

Le God’s Football Style

Matt Le Tissier was seen as a creative and technically gifted attacking midfielder with an eye for goal. He is known for his ability to create chances for teammates. These abilities also enabled him to play as a supporting striker on occasion and also on the right wing, although Le Tissier did not favour this position. Despite his poor work-rate and lack of notable pace or stamina, Le Tissier was known for his exceptional control, technique, balance and dribbling ability along with his intelligence on the ball and use of tricks which allowed him to beat his opponents. He was also known for having extreme accuracy on penalties.

Le God No More

Le Tissier’s final goal for Southampton was on the 19th May 2001 during a match against Arsenal at The Dell where he scored the last goal in the match. He announced on 29th March 2002 that he would retire when the season ended after injuring himself with a calf strain during a game against Charlton. His final match was a testimonial against an England XI in May 2002.

Throughout his football career, Matt Le Tissier had a reputation for scoring from the spot, converting 47 of the 48 penalties that he ever took for Southampton. The only time he failed to convert was on the 24th March 1993 during a match against Nottingham Forest, his spot kick was saved by Forest keeper, Mark Crossley, the defeat was so huge for Mark Crossley that he described it as his most proud save of all time. After he left Southampton, Le Tissier had a two-season long run with Eastleigh, a non-league team. He played there alongside his fellow former Southampton teammate David Hughes. He played his very last match for Eastleigh in August 2003 where he starred in the Hampshire Chronicle Cup Final victory against Winchester City.

It’s Not Over For This Le-gend

Ten years after retiring from football, on the 7th April 2013, Matt Le Tissier announced he had come out of retirement and signed with his hometown club, Guernsey. A number of postponed matches meant that they had to play 17 league games a month and Le Tissier announced that he would be able to play in four or five games, also saying he was unable to play any Saturday games due to his job as a television pundit on Soccer Saturday. He made his debut for the club on the 24th April 2013 as a substitute for Ollie McKenzie in a 4-2 defeat in their Combined Counties League Premier Division clash with Colliers Wood United. The game was his only appearance for the club.

Playing for England

Matt Le Tissier chose to play for England, joining a relatively small group of players who were not born in the country. He earned eight caps over three years. Even though Guernsey is largely self-governing, it doesn’t actually have an official FIFA national team, which made Le Tissier eligible to play for England. On the 15th February 1995 Le Tissier was picked by the manager at the time, Terry Venables, to start the ill-fated friendly match against the Republic of Ireland at Lansdowne Road. During he infamous game Ireland was leading from a 22nd-minute goal by David Kelly and a group of England fans began to riot, causing the Dutch referee Dick Jol to abandon the match.

Matt Le Tissier scored a hat trick in the run up to the 1998 FIFA World Cup during a 4-1 victory for England B against Russia B at Loftus Road. Despite his victory, Le Tissier was overlooked by manager Glenn Hoddle for the final squad, causing much controversy. This decision was seen by Le Tissier as a turning point in his career, in which his form never fully recovered. He never played for England again after the tournament.

Matt Le Tissier - Post-Retirement

Matt Le Tissier had one of the hospitality suites at the St Mary’s Stadium named after him. On the former site of The Dell, where apartment blocks are named after Southampton players, one is named Le Tissier Court. On the 7th February 2007, he had a plane in the Flybe fleet named after him, on his home island of Guernsey. It was however withdrawn from use in July 2011. After Southampton’s reduction to level three in 2008-09, Le Tissier initially offered to help with a bid to take over the club, but he later withdrew this, causing much controversy.

In 2009, Matt Le Tissier appeared on the Channel 4 game show, Countdown, as the Dictionary Corner guest along with the show’s resident lexicographer, Susie Dent. He went on to make 10 appearances over two series during 2009 and 2010. In 2011 Matt accepted the position of Honorary President of Guernsey FC. He was also a long-term panellist on Sky Sports’s Soccer Saturday but he was dropped from there in August 2020.… show more