Matt Le Tissier explains decision he made to 'protect' Southampton | OneFootball

Matt Le Tissier has explained the decision he made to 'protect' Southampton football club, having stepped down as ambassador in 2022...

Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier was once a much-loved part of the Gillette Soccer Saturday panel on Sky Sports, but he has since explained why he has stepped away from duties with Southampton to protect the club.

Matt Le Tissier has developed a highly controversial online profile since stepping away from mainstream broadcasting, regularly using social media to express views that sit well outside the conventional consensus.

The iconic Southampton figure has promoted or engaged with a number of unsubstantiated theories and unverified claims, while also becoming increasingly outspoken on political, social, and public-health issues.

Why Matt Le Tissier stepped down from his role at Southampton

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Speaking to Jeff Stelling via OLBG on YouTube, Le Tissier says he personally stood down as Southampton ambassador because he didn't want the club taking criticism for opinions he was expressing publicly.

He said: "I stood down from my role as ambassador because I didn't want the club to take any stick for, obviously, the opinions I was giving on social media. So I stood down to protect them from that."

However, he stresses that Southampton themselves continued to treat him well, supplied him with tickets, and never told him he was unwelcome, adding: "And during all that time, the club have always been brilliant with me, always given me tickets for the games.

"And they've never once said, 'you're not welcome here'. So I never ever thought that I'd been ostracised in any way. So it's been nice that, you know, things have calmed down a little bit.

"There was a new owner that came in and Dragan [Solak], obviously, he's got his own media company, and he's very keen on free speech. And I've had a nice relationship with the CEO.

"He's been very welcoming to me ever since the day that Phil Parsons came into the club."

What the controversial moment was for Matt Le Tissier to end role as Southampton ambassador

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Le Tissier is someone many in the mainstream media steer clear of now, given things like his comments on the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, which both attracted significant criticism.

His 2022 post questioning reporting of civilian killings in Bucha ultimately contributed to him stepping down as a Southampton ambassador. More recently, he has continued to engage publicly with conspiratorial subjects, including the so-called ‘chemtrails’ theory.

As a result, Le Tissier is a complicated proposition for broadcasters covering the Saints in the Championship, as well as commercial partners. In many ways, his profile remains valuable, but his willingness to make provocative or contentious interventions creates an obvious reputational and brand-safety risk.

At one stage, he was part of an era of Soccer Saturday that many in the UK still have plenty of nostalgia for, but Le Tissier perhaps made the correct decision to protect Southampton in the long-term and many fans will be grateful of that for his legacy at the club as much as anything else.

Matt Le Tissier's Southampton legacy

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For Southampton supporters, Le Tissier will always be remembered first and foremost for what he did on the pitch. A one-club legend, Le Tissier spent 16 years with the Saints, scoring 209 goals in 540 appearances and becoming the first midfielder to reach 100 Premier League goals.

His extraordinary 1993/94 season produced 25 league goals, including two spectacular strikes against Newcastle, while his 40-yard chip against Blackburn the following campaign became one of the Premier League's iconic finishes.

There were also the audacious free-kick against Wimbledon, his famous chip over Peter Schmeichel in Southampton's 6-3 win over Manchester United, and the last-minute penalty that brought up his 100th Premier League goal.

His final goal at The Dell, a dramatic winner against Arsenal, provided a fitting farewell to Southampton's greatest entertainer. That is how he should be remembered by the Championship outfit forever.