The impact Billy Bingham had on Northern Ireland as a country is not lost on Gerry Armstrong.
The former Spurs striker was part of a golden age of football on the international stage under Bingham's leadership.
Qualifying for back-to-back World Cup finals, beating Spain in their own backyard, helped lift the darkness in some difficult times for the country.
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" The Troubles had been bad for years and Northern Ireland had gone through an awful lot so we were just glad to put a bit of a shining light and give people something to look forward to," said Armstrong.
"Obviously there were no mobile phones back then and it was more difficult to contact people when you were abroad so we were unaware of what was happening back home.
"Our only disappointment was we missed the parties back here."
Armstrong was one of a number of former Northern Ireland stars to pay their respects to Bingham at Wednesday's memorial service at St Anne's Cathedral in Belfast ahead of the first anniversary of his passing.
The legendary manager clearly had a big impact on Armstrong on and off the pitch.
"I first met Billy in the late 1970s when he was manager of Mansfield and I was playing for Spurs," he recalled.
"We went there and they were very hard to play against.
"We went expecting to roll them over but that wasn't the way at all. Glen Hoddle
scored late on to get us a 3-3 draw.
"Billy put a really good side together, not big names, but they were very well organised, that was the trademark for Billy.
"They played his style of football and you always knew you were in a game.
"He obviously became Northern Ireland manager about a year-and-a-half later and he took us on to great things.
"It would be great if we could get to another World Cup, but to get to two consecutively and win the British Championships we did was phenomenal.
"We should have qualified for the Euros in 1984, we lost out on goal difference to Germany.
"His team talks were brilliant and he organised us.
"He saw things from a different light and he was always thinking ahead.
"He was very clever and his tactics were brilliant, he was special.
"Billy was an amazing manager and I don't think we'll see the likes of him again.
"I had a wee rapport with him, we got on very, very well.
"I kept in touch with him and used to phone him every couple of weeks right up until about ten years ago when dementia kicked in.
"He was amazing as a manager and what he achieved. I don't think anyone will ever better it."
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