Englishmen Abroad: Luther Blissett

Three times a Watford player, he holds the club record at Vicarage Road for both the most amount of appearances (415) and goals (158).

Blissett was a crucial part of the Graham Taylor led Watford side that rose up through the lower ranks of English football, to eventually finish in second place behind Liverpool in the 1982-83 championship race.

In that championship-chasing season, Blissett scored 27 goals, including four in one game - at home against Sunderland, a match which Watford went on to win 8-0 establishing a club record.

Such was his form for the Hornets that Bobby Robson saw it fit to hand him his first of a total of fourteen England caps in October 1983 when he came on as a substitute for Ipswich's Paul Mariner in a 2-1 defeat to West Germany at Wembley. 

In December 1983, playing in only his second game for England, which was also his first start, Blissett scored a hat-trick against the hapless Luxembourg side who eventually lost 9-0 to Robson's men.

That summer saw the surprise move to AC Milan where he was to spend just one season.  The stories regarding Blissett's move to Italy are numerous and contradictory, but many suggest that Milan signed the wrong player from England - Milan wanting John Barnes' services and not those of Blissett.

Indeed it is difficult to imagine why Milan felt that Blissett's game would suit the technique-orientated world of Serie A. In the 1983/84 season, Blissett scored five goals in 30 league games and was transferred back to Vicarage Road at the end of the year for £550,000. 

However his name has lived on in Italy, though not for any footballing reasons. 'Luther Blissett' has become the name of an Italian anarchist society and is associated with general anti-establishment behaviour.

In 1997 four men went on trial in Rome for travelling on a train without tickets. When asked to identify themselves, all said they were 'Luther Blisset' and argued that as a collective identity, they did not need a ticket. 

His Milan misery seemed to wreck his England form as well.  After his hat-trick scoring performance, Blissett played a further twelve games for the Three Lions but didn't manage to score in any. His last England appearance came in June 1984, which England lost 2-0 to the USSR.

Back at Watford in August 1984, Blissett enjoyed four and a bit more seasons with the Hertfordshire club, scoring almost as freely as he had before his move abroad.

However, having played just three games at the start of the 1988/89 season, Blissett left Watford for Bournemouth in November 1988 for a fee of £60,000.

Cherries manager Harry Redknapp got the best out of Blissett for three seasons in which the former England international scored 56 times in just 121 league appearances.

After Bournemouth were relegated in 1990/91, Blissett joined Watford for a third spell the following season and scored ten more goals for the Hornets, taking him to his final tally of 158. However the following year, with Blissett now aged 33, he failed to play a single league game.

A short spell with Bury of Division 3 came next - where Blissett scored one goal in ten games - and that was followed by loan periods at West Bromwich Albion and Mansfield.

Luther Blissett Factfile

Nationality: English
Place of Birth: Falmouth, Jamaica 
Date of Birth: 1 February 1958 
Height: 5' 10''
Weight: 12 03 
Clubs: Watford, Milan, Bournemouth, Bury
Position: Forward