Four decades have now passed since Gordon Taylor took his seat at one of the top tables of English football - and a life of established wealth.
Taylor transformed himself from a mediocre and journeyman footballer into the highest paid trade union official in the world.
In more modern times certain people have tried to pull the chair from underneath him. But he has refused to budge. Why would he?
Taylor earns in excess of £3m-a-year as chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association. The man known to some within the organisation as 'Bagpuss' remains not only the cat that got all the cream, but one that continues to dig its claws in.