MATT LE TISSIER is the most famous ex-player to come forward in the scandal that has rocked English football.
And he joins a group of at least SIX Southampton starlets who have revealed their disturbing treatment at the hands of the club’s then-youth development officer Bob Higgins.
Le Tissier is a Saints legend known to the supporters as ‘Le God’ — but who is now having to question what happened to him at the very outset of his career there.
Recalling the naked group massages when he was a schoolboy desperate to make his way in the game, the former England star said he was not abused but admitted: “It’s very, very wrong for a start.
“Looking back it’s pretty disgusting. What went on is not normal behaviour. When you hear stories of the naked soapy water massages, hairy bum competitions, that kind of stuff, you look back and think, ‘hang on a minute, what was going on?’ ”
Le Tissier, 48, is just one of many huge stars to have come through the ranks at Southampton.
Future England players Steve Williams and Dennis Wise both made it under Higgins’ guidance.
And when he then delivered a crop of talent including Le Tissier, Alan Shearer, the Wallace brothers — Danny, Rodney and Ray — and Neil Maddison, Higgins became known as a star-maker.
There is no suggestion that any of these players were victims.
HIGGINS TIMELINE
BOB HIGGINS was the man dubbed the ’star finder’ when he was working at Southampton in the 1980s.
He helped bring through future England internationals such as Alan Shearer and Matt Le Tissier in his time with the south coast club.
But he was also accused of indecent assaults against young players, leading to court cases.
1985: A teenaged Le Tissier joins Southampton, where Higgins is employed in the youth set-up.
April 1989: Higgins leaves Saints. The same month, the Football League sends a letter to all clubs warning them to steer clear of the Bob Higgins Soccer Academy.
1992: Higgins is cleared of indecent assault charges relating to incidents between 1985 and 1989.
May 1995: Higgins joins Peterborough United as youth team manager.
April 1996: Higgins leaves Peterborough “by mutual consent”.
1997: Higgins is investigated by film-makers from Channel 4’s Dispatches — and denies the accusations.
1997: Hampshire Police and the county’s social services send out a warning letter about Higgins.
2001: Higgins is sacked as manager of non-league Bashley and goes on to boss Winchester City.
2012: Fleet Town hire Higgins but admit he was not police-checked as he did not work with children. He no longer works there.
December 2016: Six former Saints youth players, including Dean Radford, Billy Seymour and Jamie Webb, reveal they have named Higgins to police.
Yesterday: Le Tissier lifts the lid on the “disgusting” naked massages to which he was subjected as a youngster there.
But the allegations surfacing this week paint a picture of a coach using his power to put desperately- ambitious youngsters under his spell.
SunSport has spoken to two former players who trained at Southampton under Higgins at different times — and who have both reported their experiences to the police.
One, who wishes to remain anonymous, lifted the lid on the practice of the naked soap massages he was forced to endure on a trip to play in an international tournament in Sweden when he was just 13.
He said: “We were asked individually to go in and have a soap-down massage from the waist down, where you would have to take your shorts and pants off.
“That was for a rubdown from your ankles to the inside of your groin area, which was obviously where he was touching your testicles with his hands.
“He was knelt between my legs, very close to my naked genitals. That probably happened three or four times to me on the trip.
“He told us it was normal practice for coaches to do that at a strenuous tournament to get rid of aches and pains and stuff, that’s how it was sold to us.”
Jamie Webb, who was a young professional at Southampton in the late 1980s, added: “Higgins was God. He created an emotional relationship with all the players.
“He used to get us to send letters saying what you thought of him, or say what song reminded you of him.
“When you used to travel in his car, he would try to pat you on the leg, put his hand on your thigh, get your hand to put on his thigh.
“He was a king-maker. At football clubs whenever they choose to, if you’re not up to scratch they can say ‘I’m sorry but we’ve got to let you go’.
“You needed and wanted his approval and wanted to be seen as being a good player. He was without doubt a talented football coach but at what cost?”
Higgins, who has always denied any allegations of wrongdoing, faced charges of sexual offences against boys in 1992 but was cleared on the direction of a judge.
The coach, now 63, was also named in a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary detailing allegations of sexual abuse in football.
The programme, which aired in 1997, interviewed former player Dean Radford, who waived his right to anonymity to make claims about his treatment.
Higgins left Southampton’s employment in April 1989. A month later the Football League circulated a letter to all clubs saying they, along with the FA and the English Schools’ FA, were ‘opposed’ to anyone working with Higgins and his soccer academy.
But he still went on to work with Peterborough and several non-league clubs in the Hampshire area.
He was an unpaid adviser to Southern League side Fleet Town until his name surfaced in the child sex scandal over the weekend.
Ex-Saints boss Harry Redknapp criticised the FA for not taking action. He claimed rumours about Higgins had been ‘rife’ for years. Redknapp, who was at St Mary’s from 2004 to 2005, said: “I’ve known him for a long time, he was probably the leading youth development guy in the country.
“But then the rumours were going around at that time.
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“There was a programme I watched where this young guy spoke about Bob Higgins and the type of stuff he was doing with kids at Southampton — and I thought that would be the end of him.
“I’m just amazed that he’s been involved in football since that day.
“I certainly think the FA could have done a bit more to monitor him and make sure he wasn’t allowed back into football.”
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