Gone are the days when loyalty and career aspirations were major elements in the world of football, as money has become the one main thing that overshadows everything else in the modern game. Recent events are a testament to this, with several high-profile footballers opting to join Saudi Arabia for lucrative contracts in their prime, and player’s like Romelu Lukaku potentially joining Juventus and betraying an Inter Milan side that helped him a lot throughout his career. While the number of loyal players who stay at clubs for several years might diminish in the future, we have certainly seen a lot of footballers that epitomized loyalty over the past few decades.

Matt Le Tissier was one such footballer, who played his entire professional career with Southampton. He is one of the greatest players in the club’s history, and was affectionately nicknamed “Le God” By Southampton fans. This article will be looking at his legendary career with the saints, and how his football journey is a perfect example of loyalty over greater success.

A slow start with the Saints

Matt Le Tissier came through the Southampton youth academy and eventually signed his professional contract on October 1986. He operated as a creative attacking midfielder, and his exceptional technical skills were what made him stand out from many other midfielders during his prime. Le Tissier made his club debut in a 4–3 defeat against Southampton. As his first season with Southampton ended, the former English international scored 6 goals in 24 league appearances. His most notable performances that season was against Leicester City, which saw him score a hat-trick. Le Tissier had also scored against Manchester United that season in the League Cup.

The rise to stardom

The 1987–88 season was a tough one for the player, as he failed to score despite making 19 first-team league appearances. However, he showcased his talents in the following 1988–89 season with 9 goals in 28 league matches.

English football saw the rise of Le Tissier in the season's that followed, as he established himself as one of the most promising youngsters in world football at the time. He was voted PFA Young Player of the Year for the 1989-90 season, which saw him score 20 league goals to guide Southampton to a historic seventh placed finish in the First Division. It was the club's highest finish in 5 years at the time.

Saving Southampton and rejecting England's finest

The 1993–94 season saw Le Tissier at his very best, as the Englishmen went on to score 25 league goals for Southampton. In the years that followed, Le Tissier's goal tally for the season regularly went well into double figures just for the league alone. His contributions played a major part in Southampton preserving their top flight status into the new millennium as they came close to relegation on five occasions in the first seven seasons of the Premier League. One of those season's also saw them escape from relegation just on goal-difference.

Some of the biggest clubs in world football were interested in Le Tissier at the time, which included the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United, and Tottenham. Chelsea even made a then British record £10 million record bid for the player in August 1995, but the player decided to remain loyal to Southampton. Then defending champions Blackburn Rovers were also considering making a similar bid, but the player's answer would've been the same.

Final years

On April 2nd 2000, Le Tissier scored a last-minute penalty for Southampton in a 2–1 defeat to Sunderland. The goal however proved to be a historic one, as he became the first midfielder in Premier League history to reach 100 goals. His excellent penalty taking record ( 47 out of 48 attempts) also played a huge role in achieving this feat.

Le Tissier played his final competitive match for Southampton against West Ham on 30 January 2002. He announced on 29th March 2002 that he would retire from playing at the season's end after limping off with a recurrence of a calf strain during a reserve team game against Charlton Athletic.

And that was the end of Le God's legendary career at Southampton, as he left the Saints as one of their greatest ever players.