Over the years, there have been many players to have pulled on the famous red and white stripes of Southampton.
However, it can be argued that there aren;t many as closely associated with the club, as Matt Le Tissier.
Joining as a youth player in 1985, Le Tissier remained with the Saints for the next 17 years; his entire professional career.
During that time he made 540 appearances in all competitions for Southampton, scoring more than 200 goals in the process.
Many of those strikes were spectacular ones, and he was a key player for the Saints throughout his time there.
As a result, there were often questions about why he never moved to a bigger club, who might have given him the chance to win trophies.
Now though, Le Tissier himself has identified one reason why that is the case.
Freedom to play a key aspect of Matt Le Tissier’s career
With Le Tissier spending the whole of his professional career with Southampton, the attacker was never able to win a major trophy.
That however, was seemingly not a concern to him even when he was on the pitch, which appears to have contributed to his long stay with the Saints.
Recently, Le Tissier appeared on the Football’s Greatest podcast, hosted by his former fellow Soccer Saturday presenter Jeff Stelling.
Speaking about how Le Tissier played during his career, Stelling noted he had been someone who played with a ‘joy and freedom’.
Responding to those observations, the former Saints attacker said:
“That’s what football for me was all about. That was one of the reasons why I never left Southampton. Because I just wanted to play, I just wanted to entertain people.
“I was a little bit different in that I wasn’t that fussed about winning stuff! The game was more important to me than the winning.”
Southampton benefitted from Matt Le Tissier’s mindset
From a footballing perspective at least, this stance taken by Le Tissier certainly helped the club.
During his time there, the attacker was an absolutely vital player for Southampton.
With Le Tissier staying at the club for so long, it ensured Saints fans could enjoy many unforgettable and spectacular goals, courtesy of his goalscoring talents.
Not only were those moments special, but the number of goals he scored were vital in keeping the Saints in the top-flight for so long.
That in turn will have helped the club to lay the foundations it needed, to continue to move forward, with the rewards they earned, not least financially, from that status.
It is also interesting to note that winning trophies was not a top priority for Le Tissier during his career. Many would assume that sort of success to be a big target for any player.
The fact it wasn’t for him, shows how different individuals view things in various ways when it comes to their careers in the game.