Kenny Bruce insists he is "in it for the long-term" after outlining Larne's vision for the next five years.
It was back in 2017 that Bruce arrived at Inver Park with the intention of donating a "couple of hundred thousand pounds" to support his hometown club.
At the time Larne were languishing at the bottom end of the Championship, their stadium was need of major redevelopment, and barely 100 fans were coming through the turnstiles each match day.
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Half a decade on - and several million pounds' investment later - the Purplebricks co-founder continues to spearhead Larne's meteoric rise in Irish League football.
They are one of only three fully professional teams in the top flight, have won two senior trophies and qualified for Europe on successive seasons.
It has been a remarkable transformation, and one that has delivered on Larne's ‘Aspire to Inspire’ document which was released in 2018 and laid out the club's plans to 2022.
Last week Bruce - alongside chairman Gareth Clements and General Manager Niall Curneen - reflected on the success of that project at a special 'For The Town' event at Inver Park.
It was a moment of reflection for Bruce, but also a time to share the club's vision for the future, one that is punctuated by the values of ‘Sustainability, Togetherness, Pride in Larne, Inclusivity and Forward Thinking’.
Belfast Live caught up with the Inver supremo to chat about the rollercoaster journey so far, and Larne's vision for the next five years.
We also chatted about fans' expectations, manager Tiernan Lynch, the current health of the Irish League and his social media exchanges with football supporters.
We also touched on Larne's hopes of winning the Premiership title.
Here's what he had to say...
BL: What has made you most proud over the past five years?
KB: "I think it is very difficult to pinpoint one thing. I suppose it is the galvanisation and the pride we have brought to the town.
"We have brought out people in their numbers. A huge number of supporters, volunteers, great support from the business community, and we have added quality personnel to our board. We have recruited some great staff.
"So genuinely, I am most proud of the level of engagement we have had. The community have really got behind us and supported us over those five years.
"And now it is time to go again and time to kick on again."
BL: Do you remember what it was like when you first came in? Larne were struggling in the Championship, the fan base was relatively small and Inver Park needed a lot of work done to it...
KB: "It makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck. That's what inspired me. It was such an exciting project.
"When we walked into Inver Park it was closed. The local authority wouldn't give us a health and safety certificate. I think Tiernan played his first five matches away from home.
"All of that was what really excited me.
"My second or third game was against Donegal Celtic. It rained all day and the day before, and I think Marty Donnelly should have scored eight goals that day and four got stuck in the mud and puddles in the goalmouth.
"Seeing where it was, the seeing the potential of it, was the really exciting thing. And it is nice to reflect on it."
BL: You're a hugely successful businessman, was there any stage during those early days when you thought you had bitten off more than you could chew?
KB: "Originally it was only going to be a donation of a couple of hundred thousand or something to help the club.
"I would hope that people see that I have put my weight behind the club in terms of my enthusiasm and dedication, and that it wasn't just money.
"The emotional investment is just as important as the financial one. But there has never been a time in those first five years that I have regretted in any shape of form my financial or emotional involvement in what we have tried to achieve.
"It is amazing every time I come home and walk through the town, and people are grateful to everyone at the club who has worked hard to get us to where we are today.
"For some reason I seem to get a great deal of thanks and it is slightly embarrassing for me.
"But never have I felt, in any shape of form, any regret whatsoever."
BL: We sometimes see investors come and go at football clubs. Larne obviously has a special place in your heart, are you here for the long-term?
KB: "Absolutely. There is no question. Clearly, some people come into football, and sport in general, and then they leave.
"There is a big emotional investment in this for me because it is my home town. This town helped me be successful in business. It kept me grounded, the people remind me all the time don't forget the bowl you were baked in.
"I think that helps create successful teams and successful businesses and from my perspective this is part of the family. It is part of my DNA and my family's DNA.
"We take a great sense of pride in being around the place and from my perspective I will be here as long as people want me to be here and that I can add value.
"No owner or investor has a God-given right to be involved in something so important as a football club in Larne. But I will certainly contribute for as many years as I can."
BL: Since you arrived the club has earned promotion to the Premiership, won two County Antrim Shields, qualified for Europe twice, increased the fan base significantly. But everyone will mention the Premiership title. How big a target is that now?
KB: "We believe we can compete. We have built the infrastructure, management, coaching staff, players, Academy and scholarship programme. We have everything that a good, successful Premier League club should have.
"We absolutely feel we want to compete at the very top. Whether that gives us enough to win it, and whether we will have enough quality to win it, who knows.
"But from our perspective we have those targets very much on our radar and are going to work very hard to compete at the top."
BL: The progress on and off the pitch has been rapid at Larne, and that ramps up the expectation levels. Do you think fans have to be realistic as well?
KB: "I think this is very much part of the reason why we did what we did with the renewed vision. We reflected on what we have achieved in the past five years and what we plan in the future.
"It was an opportunity to try and manage that expectation. Sometimes that expectation can be a drain on energy and motivation. If you don't deliver on that expectation then it 'is a disaster'. We don't see it that way.
"We see it as a slow, positive, constructive progress. We have made substantial progress in those five years and we need to make sure expectation doesn't become a drain on our motivation or our energy.
"This revitalisation of our vision mission and our values and our new focus will hopefully help us manage that expectation.
"I don't blame our supporters for having expectations, because it has been a great journey over the past five years. But if we want to have a team that can compete at the very top of the Premiership, we have to stick together and have everyone fighting in the same direction.
"We can't have any factions who feel things aren't going to plan, and expectations getting out of control. I am a great believer in trying as best we can to manage those expectations and keep optimism high. That gives you energy."
BL: Tiernan Lynch has played a big role in the progress of the club, but sometimes he is the one who takes the flak when results don't go your way. You seem to have a close bond with Tiernan...
KB: "Tiernan is a very special human being. He has been involved in aspects beyond the first team, and he has played a massive part in the infrastructure. He has been a big driving force behind many things at the football club.
"I am very proud to work with Tiernan and I think he is a very super-talented guy. You've got to remember he has only been in management for five years.
"This is his first job and he has taken the club from part-time and bottom of the Championship, to full-time and with a full-time scholarship programme. And the team is winning and challenging for trophies.
"So it is a huge learning curve for him, and there is no question that we remain totally focused in supporting Tiernan and I think he is a person who learns when he makes a mistake and someone who will go from strength to strength and probably end up being more successful in the Irish League."
BL: Tiernan is a quiet man of the Irish League. He doesn't do many interviews and just works away from the spotlight...
KB: "He is definitely someone who is a man of few words. We would want to see him being slightly more out there. We think it is good for the Larne brand to have someone of Tiernan's ability speaking on the club's behalf, or doing interviews with people like yourself.
"But we don't push him towards those things, but we encourage him because he is a great ambassador for our football club and someone we are very proud to showcase.
"And the more he can speak to the media and be part of that, then the more success will come our way."
You would be on social media quite a bit and you do interviews. Do you feel it is important to engage with Irish League fans?
"I have to say my engagement with 99.9 per cent of Irish League fans has been brilliant. There is no question there is a huge amount of love for the Irish League, and many fans who have been around it for a long time.
"I am relatively new to it, and I get reminded sometimes that I am a new kid on the block. But I love the engagement and the social media side of offering a view and opinion, and I get a lot of respect from other clubs' fans and I enjoy the interaction."
BL: How do you assess the health of the Irish League right now?
KB: "I think it is really exciting. I think the platform Gerard (Lawlor, CEO of NI Football League) is in is a really good foundation. He is full of enthusiasm to improve it even further.
"I think a lot of the decisions he and his team have made so far have laid the foundations for lots of exciting and innovative changes in the future.
"You only have to look at what Gerard and the team did with the League Cup final last season. It was remarkable with the big crowd they got on a Sunday afternoon.
"To see Coleraine and Cliftonville go at it for 120 minutes was unbelievable. So I think the future of Irish League football is in safe hands.
"One thing I would suggest, is that a lot more football clubs, with Gerard's support, do more together in terms of workshops and getting together to suggest ideas.
"Nobody is going to do it working in silo. We can only do it as a collective and I think Gerard is the right man to being that together."
BL: Can you see other clubs going full-time in the future?
KB: "I have the personal belief, that the more full-time professional football clubs we have, the more we will hang onto our talent for a longer period of time.
"If we we send kids across the water at 16 years of age, the less likely they are to make it.
"If we can create a full-time professional league here where you can start earning reasonable money, and they can stay here to 18, 19 or 20, the better chance they have of making it successful across the water.
"We need to create more full-time football teams and hanging onto our talent for longer, have educational programmes at each club to help the players' personal development.
"I think it will prepare players for a really successful career across the water, instead of going over under-prepared at 16.
"Kofi Balmer, I believe will go and have a really illustrious career across the water. Had he gone at 16 that might not have been as likely.
"The full-time environment he had at Larne helped that, and also the work at Ballymena United.
"I am so proud of Kofi getting the call-up to the senior squad. I spoke to Kofi yesterday and he fully enjoyed being part of the Northern Ireland set-up.
"He is already thriving at Crystal Palace and he is maturing as a player and person. I think he will have a brilliant professional career across the water and a fantastic international career."
BL: Where do you hope to see Larne in five years' time?
KB: "I certainly believe we can see Larne as one of 12 full-time football clubs in the Irish League. I think there is a huge amount of growth left in this league.
"I feel Larne have played a lead role in helping facilitate that growth and be part of that.
"I also feel Larne will win one of the major trophies. And it would be brilliant to see the club winning one of those bluechip trophies and I think when Larne does win one, they will have deserved it.
"And it will lay the foundations for future success in the future."
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