When you're running with a self-imposed transfer policy that only lets you develop and sign players from the Basque region, it makes sense to laud the virtues of loyalty.
This is the first time Bilbao have handed out such an award, but if they'd thought of it a couple of years sooner who's to say the likes of Javi Martinez and Ander Hererra wouldn't still be at the club? It's impossible to know for certain, but we can only hope that latest hot young things Laporte and Muniain will see this and think twice before agitating for moves elsewhere.
Though that's by the by, the real reason we're here is to get dewey-eyed over the Southampton legend who made more tha 500 appearances for the club between 1986 and 2002, scoring 200+ goals (most of them stunners) along the way.
Presenting him with the award, Bilbao impressively managed to shoehorn in praise from both Pele and Xavi.
“What is entirely clear and obvious is that your reputation in the world of football is unmatched,” they said of him.
“Many great players have expressed their admiration about you. Pele, for instance, was quoted saying that if you had been Brazilian you would always have been among the starting 11.
“Barcelona’s midfielder Xavi recently said: ‘The man I absolutely loved watching as a kid was Matt Le Tissier after seeing the highlights of his extraordinary goals.
“’His talent was out of the norm. He could dribble past seven or eight players but without speed – he just almost walked past them. For me, he was sensational.
“’We had a programme on Spanish TV with the best goals from around Europe. He was always the star.’
“But for us, what we value most are your values and principles, your loyalty to the same club during your entire career.
“We see ourselves very much reflected in this value and in these principles. For this reason, it is a true honour for us to give you our first One-Club Man Award. This way you will always be part of our history.”
Someone chopping onions?
Here's the great man picking up the award.
And here's a compilation of some of his best goals, appropriately set to the music of Mozart.
Legend.