It's the holy grail of Saints signatures, a collector's item from the man dubbed the worst Premier League player of all time. 

Saints fans Steve and Michael Morrison, the father and son who have amassed the world's largest collection of more than 7,000 Southampton FC signatures, have told how they came by the autograph of Ali Dia, the infamous player who made one substitute appearance lasting less than an hour. 

it comes as a new podcast series '53 minutes' takes a deep dive into how he tricked Graeme Souness into playing him in the top flight.

Daily Echo: Ali Dia's signature

READ MORE: The shrine to Southampton FC inside a home in Perth, Australia

Comics Josh Widdicombe and Dara Ó Briain speak to the former manager, ex players and reporters who recall their memories from the time. 

The addition of Dia's signature came about ten years ago for the Morrisons, from Highfield, and it was all thanks to the Daily Echo. 

They explained how they were searching for the autograph of Dia, along with the club's new signing at the time Dani Osvaldo and the late 50s manager George Roughton in an article. 

Daily Echo:

Steve, 56, said: "Dani Osvaldo was easy enough to get, though as it turned out, his stay at Saints was barely longer than Ali Dia's! George Roughton was fun, at auction we outbid an American oil magnate who was living in Arizona, he was really angry about it!

"And so to Ali Dia. Your coverage was read by a father and son who went to that game against Leeds on 23rd November 1996.

"The young lad had collected all the autographs of the team that played that day, including Ali Dia.

"When they saw the article and read what we were trying to achieve the lad was really keen to help us."

Tom Brittain, a Saints fan from Surrey just happened to be outside The Dell that day when Dia walked into the stadium. The signature was displayed on a page alongside those of Richard Dryden, Dave Beasant and Eyal Berkovic, who all played in the same season. 

The Morrisons epic collection is still going strong. They continue to be up to date with every first team player since the war, with some pre-war including George Carter who made his Saints debut in 1887.

They remain on the hunt for any war time or pre-war signatures and await any new debutants during the run-in.