Swansea City academy manager Nigel Rees, the man behind so many success stories, will leave the club after 12 years.
Rees has headed up the Swans' academy for the last six-and-a-half years and has overseen the progress of countless players, many of whom have gone on to graduate into the Swans' first team and beyond.
From current Swansea players Connor Roberts, Ben Cabango, Jay Fulton, George Byers, Liam Cullen, Jordon Garrick and Steven Benda to now Premier League stars such as Manchester United's Daniel James, Sheffield United's Oli McBurnie and Tottenham Hotspur's Joe Rodon, so many owe so much to the work Rees has put in down at Landore.
And, upon the announcement of his departure, Rees revealed the "goosebumps" he felt every time he saw one of his academy lads go on to bigger and better things.
“Daniel James was my first signing when I became academy manager,” he told the club's website. “He’s now at Manchester United – one of the biggest clubs in the world – and that’s a great compliment to the hard work of everyone here.
“Then there’s Oli McBurnie, who is now playing regular Premier League football with Sheffield United, while Joe Rodon recently joined Tottenham Hotspur after being at our academy since the age of nine.
“Of course, Connor Roberts is doing really well in the first-team now and has gone on to senior honours with Wales, along with Ben Cabango.
“Then there’s Steven Benda, Jordon Garrick, George Byers, Liam Cullen, Tivonge Rushesha along with captain Matt Grimes and Jay Fulton, who are in Steve Cooper’s squad after being part of our academy.
“There are so many more players I could talk about, but what I will say is that I get goosebumps every time I see lads who grew in our academy go on to play for Swansea City.
“We’ve helped produce players for the first-team – some for us, some going on to other teams – and we also nurture them from a personal level to be good people. And when I saw we, I’m talking about all the coaches that work in the academy, the player himself and the parents too. It’s a collective effort.
“The culture here is absolutely key. Everyone has to buy into the ethos and that leads to producing players and people who are proud to wear our badge.”
The 56-year-old began working at the academy in a part-time capacity, helping to coach the club's development centres, before stepping up to positions such as academy operations manager and subsequently academy boss.
Rees has overseen incredible success at Swansea, including the under-23s' Premier League 2 Division 2 title and Premier League Cup, as well as the under-19s winning 10 FAW Youth Cups in a row since 2010.
And while those material title successes are a badge of honour for him, he said the real pride comes in knowing that his academy graduates are fully prepared to make that leap up to senior football.
"Winning is a great habit, but a player – particularly in the early stage of his career – will benefit from all types of success and setbacks.," he added. "It moulds them and prepares them for what’s ahead.
“The main success of the academy is the promotion of players into the first-team squad, and we’ve seen a lot of that in the last few years. Seeing staff promoted from the academy and into the first-team set up is also very satisfying, and shows there is a pathway for everyone to progress here.”
Rees said the decision to step away from the Swans was his own, he believed the club needed new and fresh ideas to carry through the upcoming crop of talented youngsters at SA1.
But few can doubt the big loss this will be to the club and Rees' shoes will certainly be sizeable ones to fill moving forward. And he will be watching closely, of course.
He concluded: “I will always follow the Swans – they are my club – and I can’t wait to see the next generation of players progress as a fan.”
