Saints hero Matt Le Tissier visits Oakhaven Hospice patient

Southampton FC supporter Brian Youdell had the surprise of his life when Saints legend and ex-England player Matt Le Tissier called at his Dibden Purlieu home.

The two men spent 90 minutes swapping memories of famous Saints victories and some of the club's former stars.

Brian is a patient of Oakhaven Hospice at Pennington. He makes weekly visits to its day hospice and is also receiving support at home.

Matt Le Tissier with Brian Youdell and Oakhaven Hospice volunteer Paul Boynton (Image: Oakhaven Hospice)

Matt's visit was arranged by Oakhaven volunteer Paul Boynton.

He said: "Brian is a lifelong Saints supporter and Matt Le Tissier is his hero. I wrote to Matt asking if he could visit and almost immediately he replied saying he would be delighted.

"Matt spent an hour and a half visiting Brian.

"To coin a football phrase, Brian was 'over the moon' and is looking forward to telling everyone about the visit at his next visit to the day hospice."

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Brian added: "To see my Saints hero walk through my door was a massive surprise.

"A huge 'thank you' to Paul for taking the time to create this special moment, and to Matt for spending so much time sharing memories with me."

Matt Le Tissier takes part in the last game played at The Dell before Saints moved to St Mary's Stadium (Image: Newsquest)

The Guernsey-born midfielder spent his whole professional career at Saints before turning to non-league football in 2002.

He was voted PFA Young Player of the Year for the 1989-90 campaign, but his most successful season was 1993-94, in which he scored 25 league goals.

The following year he won the Match of the Day Goal of the Season award following a Blackburn Rovers game in which he scored against a close friend, former Southampton keeper Tim Flowers.

He also scored the last goal in the final competitive match played at The Dell before the club moved to St Mary's Stadium.

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After leaving Southampton he had a two-season spell with non-league side Eastleigh. Following his retirement, he became a football pundit, appearing on the Sky Sports show Soccer Saturday.

In 2011 he became honorary president of Guernsey FC and briefly came out of retirement to play for the club in 2013.

Oakhaven serves Totton and the Waterside area as well as the New Forest. It provides free specialist care and support for patients with life-limiting illnesses, both at the hospice and in their own homes.

Only 11 per cent of its funding is provided by the government. The rest comes from other sources, including legacies and donations.