THERE’S no doubting Southampton Football Club have impressed on the pitch this season but it isn’t just the players’ skills getting international attention.

From Graziano Pelle’s famous slick style and Morgan Schneiderlin’s suave look to James Ward-Prowse’s clean cut looks and Toby Alderweireld’s perfect quiff, it seems the Saints are top of the Premier League’s style stakes.

Trend-setting players now even have haircuts named after them and have influenced a surge in men entering into the world of male grooming.

But rather than private celebrity stylists, it is a barbershop in Southampton’s Oxford Street behind the slicked back styles.

Kerri Beale, who runs Equinox Gentleman’s Refinery, says: “We have about nine players at the moment who come in – so more than half the team.

“It’s amazing to see our haircuts on TV, it blows us away.

“Once, we turned on a football programme introducing Pelle with ‘who has the best hair in the premier league?’

“There is so much emphasis on style.

“People see haircuts going on the pitch. It always used to be the Beckham people would ask for. Now they come in here asking for the Pelle haircut or the Toby.

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“We’re predicting 2015 to be the Year of the Man as more and more men are waking up to the long term benefits of looking after their skin and hair.

“It is a regime which requires more work and effort for them to maintain but the guys are doing it.”

According to the barbershop, everyone from schoolboys to pensioners are putting in the hours in the name of looking and feeling good taking inspiration from the 1940s and 50s with James Dean and Elvis Presley being style icons.

Claire Heenan, manager, explains: “Ten years ago, if a guy was to spend this much time and effort on himself, his friends would rip into him.

“But now it’s not seen as feminine anymore. It wasn’t looked upon as a feminine way in the 1920s, it was sophisticated and suave, and it’s returning back to that now.

“And it’s not just the footballers. There are builders we see who hide their hair under a construction hat all day but as soon as they go out, they want to make sure they look good, it’s for everyone. Everyone needs a pamper and a grooming.”

And she isn’t just talking about the hairstyles.

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2014 saw the beard come back into fashion with men of all ages wearing their facial hair like a badge of honour.

Kerri, who explains the barbershop specialises in beards and traditional wet shaves with a cut throat razor, says: “I’ve been a hairdresser for 26 years this year and it is the first time beards are back! We are absolutely loving the beards.

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Allyson Brown, Ian McCreery, Claire Heenan, Kerri Beale, and Jack the dog from Equinox

“Guys take real pride over them and they can take as much time, if not longer than the hair to groom.”

However, for the barbershop it’s the whole experience that keeps men coming back for more.

As well as a beauty therapist on site offering everything from body waxing to eyebrow threading and facials, the barbershop has a gentleman’s lounge complete with a flat screen TV, an Xbox, a guitar and even a dog Jack.

Kerri, laughs: “The guys love it. They often bring their friends in to watch TV or play Fifa and have a drink.

“It’s nice when it’s a home from home and they realise there is so much we can offer under one roof. Whether it’s waxing or beard trimming, guys are doing it.

“They come here for facials, pedicures, manicures, waxing.

“It just proves it isn’t just the ladies that like the niceties.

“The guys want to come in, shut down and walk out the door feeling good. Often they can’t believe they have never done it before.”