8 things you [probably] didn’t know about Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier

Matt Le Tissier celebrates his 48th birthday today, and here at SHOOT, we’d like to wish the Southampton legend a very happy birthday!

The midfielder spent 16 years on the South Coast, and netted a staggering 209 goals in 540 appearances for the Saints.

He became the first midfielder ever to score 100 Premier League goals, and netted 47 out of 48 spot-kicks in his career, with Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Mark Crossley the only man who can say that he saved a Le Tissier penalty.

However, there are a number of things that you weren’t aware of with regard to the former England international, so here are EIGHT facts you probably didn’t know about Le Tissier…

Signed first professional deal at Southampton worth £100 a week

Le Tissier signed his first professional deal at Southampton in 1986, before embarking on a fruitful 16 years with the Saints.

His first contract saw him take home just £100 a week, a far cry from the figures footballers receive nowadays, even those who have only just signed professionally.

However, he did get a raise in the second year – to £110 a week!

He scored a hat-trick against England B in run up to 1998 World Cup, but didn’t make the squad

Many may be aware of this, but it’s still quite a remarkable chapter in Le Tissier’s career that, quite frankly, beggar’s belief.

In the run up to the World Cup in France, Le Tissier fired in a hat-trick as England B comprehensively beat Russia B 4-1 at Loftus Road, which gave the England manager Glenn Hoddle the clearest indication that the Saints midfielder could do a job for his country.

Nevertheless, Hoddle did not select Le Tissier in his 30-man squad, and he never played for his country again after that.

He had a restaurant nightclub business

Le Tissier went into the restaurant nightclub business with a friend in Southampton – an experience which he says ‘put him off business for a while’.

He lost a lot of money during his short spell in the business, citing a ‘lack of experience’ as the main reason for its failure.

At least he had football to rely upon!

Less international caps than James Milner

Many have speculated as to why Le Tissier only got eight England caps, given his incredible goalscoring record at Southampton.

Some say it’s because he wasn’t playing for a top side, which seems a tad harsh on the Saints, given they retained their Premier League status throughout Le Tissier’s time at the club.

Nevertheless, ‘Le God’, as he’s known on the South Coast, appeared 53 times fewer for his country than James Milner.

Just let that sink in for a minute.

He has a plane in Guernsey named after him

The Saints legend had a plane named after him in February 2007.

He is an ambassador for Flybe, a former sponsor of Southampton, and they decided that they were going to put a picture of him on one of their planes, before officially naming it after him in Guernsey.

It’s something that Le Tissier is said to be particularly proud about.

Le Tissier is a very good golfer

A lot of footballers play golf outside of their time training and playing matches, but not many are as good as Le Tissier.

According to National Club Golfer, in 2015 the 48-year-old played off a five handicap, so regularly shoots in the 70s when out on the course.

He may well have reduced this in the last 12 months.

He is regularly mistaken for cricketer Phil Tufnell

In an interview he did for FourFourTwo magazine six years ago, Le Tissier admitted that he was regularly mistaken for former England bowler Phil Tufnell.

This was even more so at cricket matches, where people would ask him for an autograph thinking he was Tufnell, who took over 1,000 first-class wickets in his career.

Guest-starred on Countdown in Dictionary Corner

A programme Le Tissier says he watches regularly, he appeared on the show in Dictionary Corner back in 2009.

It was being hosted by his Soccer Saturday colleague Jeff Stelling and, according to Le Tissier, he got a numbers game, which Rachel Riley struggled with, correct!

Great effort Tiss!