On the international scene, though, it was a different story. Le Tissier was picked by the then manager Terry Venables to start the ill-fated friendly match against the Republic of Ireland at Lansdowne Road that had to be abandoned due to a group of England fans rioting.

In the run up to the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Le Tissier scored a hat-trick in a 4–1 victory for England B against Russia B; despite this, he was controversially overlooked by manager Glenn Hoddle for the final squad, a decision that the player himself cited as a hiatus in his career after which his form never fully recovered.

Following his retirement as a player, Le Tissier became a football pundit, and currently works as a panellist on the Sky Sports show Soccer Saturday. In 2011 he became honorary president of Guernsey F.C., for whom he briefly registered as a player in May 2013 to help with the club’s fixture congestion.

1960: Steve Cram (athletics) – former world 1500 metres champion, now a commentator (66)

Steve Cram was one of the world’s dominant middle distance runners during the 1980s. Nicknamed “The Jarrow Arrow”, after his hometown, Cram set world records in the 1500 m, 2000 m and the mile during a 19-day period in the summer of 1985.

He was the first man to run 1500 m under 3 minutes and 30 seconds. He won the 1500 m gold medal at the 1983 World Championships and the 1500 m silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games.

1976: Tillakaratne Dilshan (cricket) – former Sri Lanka opener and captain (40)

1988: Glenn Maxwell (cricket) – Australia all-rounder (28)