IT is the book Saints fans have been waiting years to read.

Finally, Matt Le Tissier’s autobiography, Taking Le Tiss, hits the shelves this week – and three days of exclusive serialisations starts in the Daily Echo tomorrow.

The book spans Le Tissier’s entire career, from his time as a schoolboy in Guernsey, to the present day.

After years of being asked to commit his life to paper, the Saints legend finally decided the time was right.

“I was always very wary about people doing books, because the publishers are often after scandal and headlines and all that kind of stuff, and that wasn’t really my cup of tea,” he told the Daily Echo.

“So when HarperCollins came to me with a deal and said ‘It’s just about football, there doesn’t have to be revelations about your private life’ that kind of interested me.

“Phil Thompson and Jeff Stelling have both done books recently and said how much they enjoy it too, so I thought I’d do it.

“I found it good fun. It was nice reliving all the old memories.

“I found it a lot of fun and slightly therapeutic in a way, but mostly it was just about reliving some great memories.”

The book, which was written in collaboration with Le Tissier’s friend and former Daily Echo Saints reporter Graham Hiley, is full of amusing anecdotes and amazing stories. Even Le Tissier admitted he was surprised at how much he had done and seen as a Saints player.

He said: “You do go ‘Blimey, there’s a lot of water gone under that bridge’.

“I’m sure there’s probably a lot of things that warranted being in the book but slipped my mind in the passing of time.

Daily Echo: Matthew Le Tissier's new autobiography is to be launched with three exclusive extracts in the Daily Echo and The Pink.

“So if there were any really good stories I have missed out then I apologise to the people involved, but I only started keeping a diary after I finished playing football, so it’s been done mainly from memory.

“Graham Hiley was a great at helping remind me of things and he’s someone I’ve built up a good relationship with over the years.”

Although many people know his career in great detail, Le Tissier was keen to provide an insight into what went on behind the scenes at the club in his time and make the book as open and honest as possible.

“There’s no point doing an autobiography that’s not a reflection of the person doing it, so I wanted it to be open and honest, and on occasions witty,” he said.

“It’s very difficult in a book to get across your sense of humour, but Graham has done a fantastic job of getting that across.

“The point of the book was to try and give people an insight into what was going on behind the scenes and not just on the pitch.

“That’s what an autobiography should be about – letting people into little secrets they didn’t know at the time. Sometimes they may explain things that happened down the years or answer the questions of ‘Why did he do that?’”

One thing Saints fans will no doubt be very interested in reading is Le Tissier’s views on former chairman Rupert Lowe and some of his decisions.

Le Tissier said: “I never had a problem personally with Rupert.

“There was never any problems in my dealings with him, but I feel things should have been handled in a better way in certain situations.

“I have been open and honest in my opinions in those ways. At the end of the day, it’s my opinion and what I think and if anyone’s got a problem with it then they should give me a call to talk about it.”

At the back of the book, Le Tissier also includes comments from Saints fans.

“One of the nice things about it is that I really enjoyed reading the bit at the back about what the fans’ views are,” he said.

“They played such a big part in my career that I felt it would be nice to involve them. You can have your own thoughts, but sometimes you don’t appreciate until you read someone else’s point of view about it, just what good times they were.”

Le Tissier added: “It will be lovely having the launch on Thursday, then the signings after that. It will be a busy few days, but it will be good fun. I just hope when Thursday comes I won’t be sat in the Megastore on my own.”

Le Tissier will be signing copies of his book at various locations over the next few days. The confirmed signings are:

THURSDAY AUGUST 20

12.30pm: Saints Megastore, St Mary's Stadium.

FRIDAY AUGUST 21

12.30pm: WHSmith, Above Bar, Southampton.

4.30pm: Waterstone’s, Wesley Walk, Basingstoke.

MONDAY AUGUST 24

12.30pm: WHSmith, Old Christchurch Road, Bournemouth.

4.30pm: Waterstone’s, The Brooks Centre, Winchester.