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Rare is the footballer who isn't judged on the silverware he amassed during his career. While the odd player transcends trophies - Pelé, Maradona, Messi or Ronaldo - the success and standing of your run-of-the-mill footballer is gauged by his medal haul and little else. It's why the best want to play for the biggest clubs: they want to collect cups, titles and trophies. And money, of course.
So the player who shuns football's greasy pole is a rare breed indeed, and Matthew Le Tissier is arguably the rarest of them all: despite possessing outrageous, naturally-gifted talent, Le Tessier spent his entire 16-year professional career plying his stylishly laid-back trade at Southampton FC. It probably cost him a lot of money; it arguably cost him a World Cup appearance, and it unquestionably cost him silverware. Hands-down, Matt Le Tissier is the finest footballer to never win a single god-damn thing. Nothing. Zip. Zero. Nada. Not even a League Cup.
Le Tissier made 443 senior appearances for The Saints between 1986 and 2002, scoring 161 goals. He was the first player to score 100 goals from midfield in the Premier League, he once scored 25 goals in a single season (Frank Lampard has never managed more than 22), converted 47 of the 48 penalty kicks he took during his career and regularly entertained The Dell faithful with moments of individual brilliance like these:
Le Tissier could very easily have left Southampton in pursuit of riches and glory. Alex Ferguson wanted him at Man United, Glenn Hoddle tried to sign him for Chelsea, while Terry Venables did his best to lure the lackadaisical Le Tissier to Tottenham. He turned them all down to stay with The Saints: "I knew I probably wouldn't win any honours, but when you're at a club that size, staying in the Premier League for 16 years gave me as much pleasure as winning a medal if I'd gone somewhere else."
Fittingly, Le Tissier scored the last ever goal at Southampton's old ground, The Dell, before it made ways for the St Mary's Stadium. It also turned out to be his final goal for The Saints, the icing on a long and loyal tenure with the club he signed for as a 16-year-old apprentice.
While the list of players who've won more medals than Le Tissier is long and largely undistinguished, the number who can claim to have possessed even a modicum of his touch, vision and flair is very small indeed. As no less a player than Barcelona's Xavi has said: “His talent was out of the norm. He could dribble past seven or eight players but without speed – he just walked past them. For me he was sensational. He was definitely an idol."
If you won't take our word for it, take his. Matthew Le Tissier: the greatest player to never win a single god-damn thing.
