Fair dinkum all-rounder Jon Brady found himself on the same Pro Licence coaching badge course as Wayne Rooney earlier this month.
The first Australian manager to win promotion in English football had little time to dwell on Northampton Town's elevation to League One, expanding his qualifications in exalted company during the close season. Rooney, Jonathan Woodgate and Kieron Dyer were among his classmates as the Cobblers boss added to the bibs and cones of an upwardly mobile coach.
“When you walk into a room and see a bloke who won 120 caps for England, you don't feel starstruck when you're on a course which puts you through such rigorous testing,” said Brady, 48.
“You go through a process with guys who are on the same journey, you support each other and you come out of it with your coaching pedigree enhanced but, more importantly, great friendships. To achieve a Pro Licence is a real milestone for me – I don't think many Australians have done that – but the greatest sensation was the camaraderie.”
Brady, born in Newcastle – that's the port on the New South Wales coast, not Geordie heartland – was on the Baggy Green side of the Ashes divide when one of sport's oldest rivalries resumed at Edgbaston.
A formidable left-handed opening batsman and lively medium-pace bowler for Northamptonshire club Howitzers, based in Conington, his cricket career must play second fiddle to one of the lower divisions' yo-yo clubs. Northampton were entitled to feel short-changed by providence when they missed out on promotion 13 months ago in outrageous fashion.
Starting the final day with a five-goal advantage over Bristol Rovers for the remaining automatic promotion slot from League Two, Brady's team raced into a three-goal lead at Barrow, eventually winning 3-1 at Holker Street.
But Rovers' 7-0 thrashing of relegated Scunthorpe's desperately young side sent the Gas up on goals scored. The Cobblers made no mistake last month, sealing the deal with a win at Tranmere on the last day of the season, and Brady said: “The players can feel proud of the way they responded to cruelty.
“We looked at ourselves from the year we narrowly missed out, felt we could do a lot better, and we resolved to keep it in our hands without having to rely on anyone else.
“Statistically, we won more points from losing positions than anyone else in the division by a country mile, and when the injuries piled up after Christmas the players' mentality spoke volumes.
“Our top scorer, Sam Hoskins, had to play right-back to help us out - the players were so adaptable, and so willing to take instructions on board and play in unfamiliar positions, it was incredibly humbling.
“We already had one of the smallest squads, and youngest squads, in the EFL. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that we missed out last year, because this time we felt ready for it and it made the achievement of going up 12 months later feel extra-special.”
Now Brady is ready to spread his wings and join fellow Aussie Ange Postecoglou, the new Tottenham manager, in making his presence felt.
“I don't know Ange, but I've followed his career and he is a big inspiration to a lot of coaches back in Australia,” said Brady.
"There might be a perception that we are still an unfashionable nation, and our qualifying route to the World Cup includes some lower-ranked countries.
“But you don't reach he last 16 of a World Cup, and push Argentina all the way (only a superb block by Manchester United's Lisandro Martinez denied Aziz Behich an equaliser for the Socceroos in Qatar ), if you can't play.”
