5. Andy Townsend
For Saints: Kent born Townsend had been playing non-league football while working as a computer operator for Greenwich council during his later teenage years. An impressive season at Southern League Weymouth was enough to convince Southampton to sign him for £35,000 and he made his professional debut in April 1985 at the age of 21. Over the next few years he carved out a niche for himself as a hard working, combative midfield player, but the team who had been challenging at the top when he joined slumped to mid-table mediocrity under new manager Chris Nicholl. After Saints: Townsend left Southampton in 1988 to join Norwich, helping them to 4th place in the league and the F.A. Cup semi-final and picking up a PFA Player of the Year nomination. During the 90s he went on to play for Chelsea, Aston Villa, where he picked up two League Cup winners medals, and Middlesbrough. Uncapped by his native country, an Irish grandmother saw him instead called up in 1989 by Jack Charlton to play for the Republic of Ireland. Townsend played for Ireland at two World Cups, their best ever performance reaching the quarter-finals at Italia 90 and captaining the side to a famous victory over the Italians at USA 94 - a competition for which the country of Townsend's birth failed even to qualify. While his playing career was impressive if unspectacular, Townsend's greatest success, and the reason he remains a well recognised face and name, is in broadcasting. Since his retirement Townsend has been a fixture of ITV's football coverage. Despite not always being the most insightful analyst and some bizarre innovations (anybody remember Townsend's Tactics Truck?), Townsend has become as ubiquitous on ITV as former Liverpool defenders Hansen and Lawrenson on BBC.