Famed former Manchester United youth-team coach Eric Harrison has been made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the New Year Honours.
The 79-year-old is most renowned as the man who brought through the "Class of 92" at Old Trafford, nurturing the careers of the likes of David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary and Phil Neville.
Appointed by Ron Atkinson in 1981, Harrison was made head of youth development by Sir Alex Ferguson when he became manager in 1986.
The decision was to pay handsome dividends, with Harrison guiding his golden generation to successive FA Youth Cup finals in 1992 and 1993 before they went on to form the Premier League's greatest team.
In an interview in 2013, Harrison said: "The manager is obviously the most important person at any football club, but without good coaches they would be absolutely nothing.
"And I might be biased but one of the most important coaches at any club is the youth coach. They are just as important as the players because they are responsible for bringing the next generation through."
Although Beckham and his teammates became world stars, they did not forget the role Harrison played in their success.
Harrison was a regular visitor to Madrid when Beckham played for Real and the former England captain visited his former mentor along with Gary Neville and Scholes this summer after learning of his struggles with dementia.
Harrison's career in football began as a player with his local team Halifax in 1957 and playing under Brian Clough at Hartlepool helped shape his coaching philosophy.
But Harrison saw a missed opportunity in the coaching he received and vowed to address that.
"In all my career, 550 games over 17 years, not one coach or manager took me to one side and said they would work with me to improve certain aspects of my game," he said.
"I was scared to say anything but I didn't think it was right. I resolved that if I ever got a job coaching, I would make sure the players got coached properly."