Southampton legend and panellist on cult football programme Soccer Saturday, Matt Le Tissier, surprised a few people by revealing he is to appear on Channel Four’s brainbox programme Countdown.
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In tribute to Le Tiss, here’s some of the cleverest footballers to have graced our game.
Iain Dowie
Believe it or not, the football player turned manager turned pundit is well educated beyond the sport. Dowie has worked with British Aerospace and has a Master’s degree in engineering from Southampton University. No, really.
Nedum Onuoha
The former Manchester City player attained eight A grades and two Bs at GCSE level, before going on to get three A grade A-levels in Maths, Business Studies and IT. Onuoha then rejected a career in medicine ahead of playing professional football.
Glen Johnson
England and Liverpool defender Glen Johnson revealed in 2012 that he was studying for a maths degree with the Open University, dedicating two hours per day to stick his head in a text book. It does then beg the question that why, considering a large part of maths is to do with angles and trigonometry, he takes up the wrong defensive position so often.
Steve Coppell
Accomplished footballer at Manchester United and manager at Reading, Manchester City and Crystal Palace, Coppell is known as one of the most miserable men in the sport. He also has a degree in economics from the University of Liverpool.
Clarke Carlisle
The former Burnley, QPR and Leeds man is currently going through a difficult time, having to deal with depression. Carlisle is a graduate from Staffordshire University, appeared on Countdown himself, was chairman of the PFA, appeared on Question Time and won Britain’s Brainiest Footballer in 2002.
David Wetherall
The former Bradford City and Leeds United defender is probably one of the only players to have had his fans pay tribute to his brains. Thanks to a first-class honours Chemistry degree from the University of Sheffield, Bradford City fans donned white lab coats in a match against Rotherham in 2008 to pay tribute to the man.
Frank Lampard
In 2009 Lampard scored one of the highest scores ever recorded in a Mensa test and achieved 11 GCSEs while at school, including an A in Latin. At Chelsea his team-mates gave him the nickname ‘The Professor’, and he has also been signed to write children’s books with publisher Little Brown.
Shaka Hislop
Former Newcastle United and West Ham United goalkeeper, Shaka Hislop has a degree in mechanical engineering from Howard University in Washington DC. Hislop has also worked with NASA, not bad eh?
Juan Mata
It’s impressive when Mata speaks in an interview with such fluent English, considering his first language is Spanish. Juan Mata is a highly educated individual, with a Journalism degree from Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, along with a host of distance learning courses including a sports science degree, physical education and marketing.
Socrates
The Brazilian is widely regarded as one of the best footballers to ever play the game, and one of the most intelligent. Besides his dazzling skill with a ball at his feet, Socrates was also a qualified doctor, and had a separate doctorate degree in Philosophy, taking after his ancient Greek namesake.