From leading Glasgow Warriors on the field during their first trophy win a decade ago to leading the off-field operation as the Warriors stunned Pretoria last June, the work of Al Kellock can be felt all over Scotstoun.
The impact the Scotland lock had on the club, firstly through more than 150 appearances as a player over a nine-year career, then during his four years as managing director, cannot be underestimated.
It is certainly not lost on the man who has been ushered into the hotseat to replace Kellock, who is now working with Scottish Rugby as head of performance pathways.
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“I can't think of anyone that's had a bigger influence on Glasgow Warriors becoming Glasgow Warriors than Al Kellock,” said new interim managing director Kenny Brown.
“It's incredible - he is absolutely synonymous with the DNA of everything that this place is.”
Big shoes to fill then for Brown, who admitted there were nerves when he received a phonecall from a holidaying Alex Williamson, the Scottish Rugby CEO, just before the start of the season.
“You see Alex phone you and you know he's on holiday and you think ‘oh, this is either great news or terrible news’.
“He told me about Al and the restructure, so it all moved pretty quickly from there for Al moving into his new role.”
When he was asked to take on the role, Brown admitted it was a “no brainer” to accept.
“I did sports development at university and one of the projects I did was the first few years in the advent of professional rugby.
“I interviewed David Jordan, who was the managing director of Glasgow at the time, so it's like a full 360 moment.
“At that moment you think, ‘what's the dream, what would I love to do?’ and it was that. I remember thinking ‘I'd love to be managing director at Glasgow Warriors’ so to get that call asking me to step into that role, it’s an absolute dream.
“It's what a young Kenny Brown would have dreamt of growing up.
“Lots of people work really hard but the opportunity just never comes up, so to be in the right place and get the opportunity is really special.”
Brown has a strong idea of the inner workings of the 2024 United Rugby Championship winners. He has worked with the club for six years in a variety of roles, including as team manager during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Latterly, he was working as head of operations, but now he has the keys to the main office overlooking the Scotstoun pitch.
"You walk in the door and you see the managing director sign and you go in that office, that's a new thing,” he admitted, while confident and determined to make his time at the helm a success.
“I'm excited about it, I'm really humbled by it, but I'm not fazed by it,” he said.
"I've been ambitious about what we can do rather than phased by the prospect of it. I think it's a huge privilege to have the opportunity to do it, but I'm more excited about what we can do in the next few years and how we get moving forward than anything else."
And while he has been appointed on an interim basis until next summer, Brown has long-term plans for the club. Those include how it works with Glasgow City Council to develop Scotstoun and enhance the matchday experience for supporters.
The club are close to signing a new lease with the council to commit their future to Scotstoun, which has been their home for the past dozen years.
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The site will be at the centre of next summer’s Commonwealth Games, which will see investments made that Glasgow’s new managing director is keen to ensure the long-term tenants also benefit from.
“The Commonwealth Games is obviously quite a big event for us,” Brown said.
"One of my biggest actions is the wider strategic relationship with the council, how we look at what that looks like moving forward that allows us to invest in and develop this site.”
Brown then references an ambition to develop Scotstoun.
He added: “There are incremental things that we're doing every year, but there's some big opportunities for us to really kick the facility on in the next few years.
“That's going to be hinged around where we get to with our relationship with the authority and our new lease and kicking that forward, but that's a huge part of my focus on that one."
Brown revealed Glasgow will have to move out of Scotstoun at the tail end of this season to allow Commonwealth Games organisers in.
He is confident they will play their final regular-season United Rugby Championship match against Cardiff at their home, but any play-off matches may be taken elsewhere.
He hopes a URC quarter-final could be played at Scotstoun, but there is work to be done on and off the field before that is set in stone.
"We would have to move for a final anyway because of the capacity, so that's not so much of a concern,” he said.
Brown was heavily involved in the project to move the 1872 Cup to Hampden Park last December and is looking forward to the match returning to the national stadium this year.
“We need a default for a Champions Cup semi-final or a URC final because there's minimum capacities and we're keen that we get a good relationship with the SFA so we have a ready-made model to flick into Hampden in the same way that Leinster do with the Aviva.
"In all likelihood, we'll probably train pre-season off-site mainly because, although the games will be finished, we'll re-lay our pitch, so there'll be a new pitch service that will go in immediately after the Commonwealth Games.”
Before all that, Brown is looking forward to a big season ahead as a slimmed down Warriors squad aims to challenge at the upper echelons of the URC table again.
The man at the top of Glasgow Warriors excited about the development of the next crop of future Scotland stars. Already Kerr Yule has made his debut while others like Euan Ferrie, Gregor Hiddleston and Jare Oguntibeju will also in time push for international honours.
The future of head coach Franco Smith was the subject of much speculation over the summer, but Brown was quick to stress he could not take the credit for signing the South African to a new deal.
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It was, he said, a “parting gift” from Kellock to the club.
"It's huge for everyone,” Brown added of Smith’s new contract, which will keep him at Scotstoun until the summer of 2028.
“Franco's contribution over the few years has been significant, he's a real figurehead of this environment and the players really respond really well to him, so continuing stability is really important for us.
“Franco's got a real long-term view of where he wants the squad to evolve to, so that makes my job a lot easier as well because we can start to forecast that in advance.
"It's brilliant for everyone at the club.”
Glasgow lost Scotland international Tom Jordan to Bristol Bears over the summer, but did manage to agree new deals with Lions trio Sione Tuipulotu, Huw Jones and Zander Fagerson.
And Brown remains confident that despite the financial challenges of Scottish Rugby, Glasgow will be able to keep hold of their top stars moving forward.
“We've started some really positive conversations,” he said when asked about contracts.
“Undoubtedly, guys come off Lions tours and it's a huge pinnacle for them and they spark a lot of interest.
"But these guys have got real deep connections to the club, they really enjoy being here, they really enjoy working with Franco and working within the group that they're in and I think they really see the value in being part of the environment here at Glasgow and under the wider auspice of Scottish Rugby.
“I'm really happy with some of those initial conversations.
"I'm confident that we will not only focus on bringing really young quality players through, but retain world-class players here at Warriors moving forward.”
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