Luther Blissett is a former professional footballer who is best known for his three spells with Watford, playing in every league from the fourth division to the first division, becoming the club’s record appearance and goal scorer in the process. He was also one of the first Black players to represent England at senior level. Overall, Luther played over 500 times and scored over 200 goals in a 19-year career. As a speaker Luther discusses his career, talking about the highs and lows. He also speaks passionately and openly about the need to eliminate racism and discrimination and how we can work to do that.
He started his career at Watford and made his debut in the 1975-76 season. He helped the club win promotion to the Third Division two seasons later and scored 21 times as they secured back-to-back promotions. He continued to have successful seasons and helped Watford reach the Division for the first time in 1982. In the club’s debut season in the topflight Luther finished as the Division’s top scorer with 27 goals. He then moved to AC Millan but re-joined Watford after just one season in Italy. He had another four years with the Hornets before he joined Bournemouth. He scored 59 times in 121 games on the South Coast. In 1991 he joined Watford for the third time and in that spell became the club’s record appearance holder and scorer with 186 goals in 503 games. He then dropped down the leagues before retiring in 1994. As well as a successful club career Luther was the fifth Black player to represent England, he played 14 games and scored three times.
After calling time on his playing career he re-joined Watford as a coach alongside incoming manager Graham Taylor in 1996. He moved to York City in 2002 as a coach before being named manager of Chesham United in 2006. Four years later after a break from football, he joined Hemel Hempstead in a coaching capacity, and in 2016 he was named Director of Football for Burnham. Away from football, he was involved in Team48 Motorsport, a team that aimed to provide opportunities to racing drivers from an Afro-Caribbean background. He even competed in the Alfa 156 in the BRSCC Alfashop Alfa Romeo Championship. In 2021 he was awarded the Freedom of the Borough of Watford and later that same year he was appointed as Deputy Lieutenant of Hertfordshire.
After being awarded an OBE in 2022 by the late Queen Elizabeth II in her Jubilee honours list for his work in football and the community, Luther recognised he was able to make a positive change within society and his hard work had been recognised by many throughout the UK. Available to hire as a speaker, Luther Blissett offers a passionate and engaging presentation. Whether he is booked to tell stories from his illustrious footballing career or to discuss the greater need for diversity and inclusion Luther Blissett is the perfect choice for any audience.
How to hire Luther Blissett
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Luther Blissett for your next event, today. To get in touch, simply call an official booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
** We do not accept requests for autographs, signed merchandise, fan mail, birthday messages or any other non-commercial contact with the speakers or acts. Each speaker on the website may not have necessarily worked with Champions in the past but are known to perform such engagements within the industry.
"It went amazingly, we had fantastic feedback from Luther! He's ever so impressive, and definitely knows how to hold an interesting interview. Thanks very much for organising this for us." - Abbie, Events Coordinator, AJBell
"I thought Luther was an absolutely brilliant speaker. For one of the game's great players, he is humble, funny, frank and tells his story in a hugely entertaining manner. More than that, in terms of his experiences as a black man in Britain he is a wise, honest and deeply insightful observer. I thoroughly enjoyed it, as did my young son who was in the office on work experience. I grew up in Bushey and Watford when Luther was in his footballing prime and a real hero in the area, but I had never heard him talk about his life and his thoughts on issues like racism and career. A first-class speaker." - Paul, Managing Editor UK and Europe News Service, CoStar Group
"Saturday was a great success. Luther was fab, we ran out of time, so much to cover." - Darren, Amersham Town Football Club
"What can I say... Luther was incredible! What a humble, insightful, wise man. In 14 years that I have been involved in MK events, NEVER has the room been so focused, listening so intently, I commented afterwards that you could have heard a pin drop. Some genuinely lovely moments" - Mark, Leap
"The session was fantastic. I really can't praise Luther enough- and the feedback from the wider business was equally as positive. He was engaging, entertaining, on track and answered every question accurately and then some" - Zaina, CarWow
"The session went really well – Luther was very engaging and motivating. The conversation flowed nicely and I think everyone was inspired by his honesty and attitude. If we were to do it again I would have perhaps asked for more time with him as we were close to overrunning! Please pass our thanks again to Luther for joining us it was truly appreciated. He provided much needed positivity on how far society has come albeit still a long way to go!" - Emma, NHS
"Just wanted to say we really enjoyed having Luther this morning, we received such positive feedback from our company – thank you!" - Lauren, St James & St William London North
"Event went very well and Luther was great. He engaged really well with the audience – and tried to keep it motivational for everyone there. He was also great when people wanted photos with him and happily obliged." - Tina, Bedfordshire Fire & Rescue Service
Luther lived up to all expectations and made quite an impact on both prisoners and staff. He talked about his life and the issues he had encountered and perhaps more relevant to our population, how to move on from this and make life as good as you want it to be. He handled all the questions that were put to him in a professional and engaging manner, which made the audience warm to him and take him at face value. We were so pleased to welcome him to Leyhill and would like you to pass on our heartfelt thanks onto him for the time he spent with us. - Ruth, Officer, HMP
"We hired Luther to speak at our All employee Inclusion, Wellbeing & Sharing Community which we run each quarter for our employees to take some time out of their day and come together as a company for inclusion, wellbeing and company updates. This particular event was supporting Black History Month. Luther gave a fabulous insight to his experience in the football industry and some of the challenges he faced and overcome which was really insightful. Plus we had a few avid Watford Football fans on the call which were in awe of him! It was a really great session and we would like to thank Luther for sharing his experience!" - Stacey, PB
"The event went really well. We had a great turnout and Luther certainly did not disappoint. He entertained the audience throughout and gave everyone so much to think about. He was very friendly and engaging and created an environment where people felt happy to ask questions throughout the event. He arrived early and stayed behind afterwards and spent time with anyone who wanted to say hi or ask questions, which was an added bonus. He is a gentleman and a credit to your agency." - Panos, Grosvenor
