"Listen son, if you're looking for autographs why don't you go and ask that ginger haired lad over there because he's going to be a really good player one day"
They were the words of Torquay United Chief Scout John James, the man responsible for discovering amongst others Lee Sharpe, Darren Moore and Dan Gosling, and someone who recognised talent when he saw it given to your correspondent's younger self.
The player he was referring to was a young defender who had just broken into the Gulls' side as a first year apprentice by the name of Garry Monk and was being tipped for bigger things.
It wouldn't be long before those 'bigger things' would materialise for Monk. At the end of the 1995-96 season, which saw United retain their status as a football league side due to Stevenage's ground not being up to league standard, Monk was snapped up for Southampton by Graeme Souness.
However, he would only make 11 appearances for the Saints in the top-flight, which included their final two fixtures at the Dell against Manchester United and Arsenal, before joining Swansea City in 2004.
His move to the Swans would coincide with a rise up through the leagues that later saw Swansea reach the top-flight in the 2010-11 season under Brendan Rodgers - after promotions in the 2004-05 and 2007-08 campaigns from League Two and League One.
Another 27 Premier League followed with the Swans before he was appointed as manager, following the departure of Michael Laudrup, on February 4th, 2014. His first game in charge was a 3-0 win South Wales derby win over Cardiff City and Monk managed to guide Swansea away from the relegation zone.
The 2014-15 season saw the Swans build on the strong start made by Monk as they finished 8th in the Premier League - their highest league finish since they finished sixth in the 'old' First Division under John Toshack in the 1981-1982 campaign.
Sadly his 12-year association came to an end of December 9th, 2015 after Swansea went on a run of one win in eleven matches.
Nevertheless, Monk wasn't out of work for long as in the following summer he was appointed as manager of Leeds United - following in the illustrious footsteps of Don Revie, Brian Clough, Jimmy Armfield, Jock Stein, Howard Wilkinson, George Graham and Terry Venables to name but a selection.
On his arrival, Monk become the West Yorkshire club's fifth manager in the space of two years but he brought some much needed stability to Elland Road.
At the time of writing, Leeds are sixth in the Championship and on course to reach the Championship Play-offs for a shot at a return to the top-flight. With Swansea currently in the Premier League relegation zone, there is a strong possibility that both sides could swap places come the end of the season.
Should Leeds win promotion, either this season or next, Monk's first professional club Torquay United stand to gain a windfall to the tune of £200,000 courtesy of the transfer that took another former Gull Eunan O'Kane to Elland Road last August, as revealed by Torquay chairman David Phillips at the Gulls' fan's forum on November 3rd.
