MEGAN BAILEY is flying high. The 11-year-old, who won a training session with Southampton legend and ex-England international Matt Le Tissier, met the Saints star and Sky Sports TV pundit for the first time yesterday.

‘It was so exciting and it was really nice to get my picture taken with him,’ she said. ‘It was nice getting to know him a bit better before we have our training session and I had the opportunity to tell him what I want to learn from him.’

Lining the red carpet at Guernsey Airport, Megan and nine of her classmates, Liam Mahon, Josephine Harrison, Bailey McKane, Johanna Asplund, Bijoy Ali, Jesse Archer, James Browning, Andrew Chandler and Stuart Gallie, were guests at the unveiling of the Matt Le Tissier Flybe plane.

‘He asked which football team I support and I told him Liverpool. He said that was OK because he used to support Spurs,’ said the Vauvert Primary School student, who plays for the girls’ football team and explained in her winning letter that the school does not have a playing field.

‘I never thought he was going to be so relaxed and easy to talk to. He said he would teach me how to do kick-ups and show us how to kick from the box – I can’t wait. It’s going to be so exciting,’ she said.

Mr Le Tissier said it was wonderful to see the children lined up in Saints strip.

‘In this day and age there are too many distractions that do not require exercise. Exercise played a massive part in my life – I grew up on the field,’ he said.

‘It’s great that there are initiatives like this to encourage children to play different sports and get that much-needed exercise.’

He spent time speaking to Megan and her friends about their football skills.

‘I was trying to find out the teams they support but they didn’t want to say at first – they were all a bit nervous, I think.

‘But eventually they told me and we had a good chat about the skills they would like to learn when I come over in the summer for the masterclass,’ he said.

For 11-year-old Josephine, meeting Mr Le Tissier was one of the most exciting things she had ever done.

‘It was really exciting meeting the Southampton star and I got his autograph,’ she said.

‘I can’t wait for him to come and teach us some new skills.’

Flybe is looking to Matt Le Tissier to help keep it in the top flight.

‘It’s 21 years since I first left this airport to start my career but I never thought one day I would have a plane named after me,’ he said.

He shares the honour with George Best, the first to have a Flybe aircraft named after him.

The ex-England midfielder, accompanied by four generations of his family, said he was shocked when the company first approached him.

He said that it was appropriate that the aircraft’s first flight after naming would be between Guernsey, where he was born, and Southampton, where he lives.

‘The fans in both places have been immensely supportive ever since I debuted against Tottenham 20 years ago.’

Juggling his new found fondness for golf, after-dinner speaking commitments, touring Britain’s soccer schools and being Flybe’s community ambassador for Guernsey, he still makes time to visit home.

‘I always enjoy coming back. I enjoy spending time with the children – it’s my home where I spent the first 16 years of my life,’ he said.

Ian Taylor, Flybe general manager market development, said dedicating an aircraft to the local soccer star seemed the most appropriate tribute.

‘With our sponsorship of Southampton, the links between Matt, football and Flybe were so strong that we felt drawn to make our own contribution to one of our country’s sporting heroes and an icon to the people of Southampton and Guernsey,’ he said.