Brentford's technical director Robert Rowan has died at the age of 28, the club have announced.
Rowan had been working for Brentford since 2014 and took over as technical director in February.
Brentford said: 'All at the club have been left devastated by the news. All our thoughts are with Robert's wife, his family and all his friends – many of whom work at Brentford.'
Brentford's communications officer, Chris Deacon, said: 'Awful, devastating news today. A more unique character in football, you will never find. Such a brilliant guy to work with, to talk to and play football with.
'He will be sorely, sorely missed by everyone at Brentford, myself, and I’m sure by his family. Rest in peace, Rob.'
Rowan was integral to Brentford's decision to close its academy and implement a B team model.
The club had decided that the probability of producing players for the first team and fending off more prestigious clubs for youth talent was too much of a risk for the cost.
'It's maximising your resources on as little an amount of people as possible,' Rowan was quoted as saying by the BBC at a Scottish Football Association convention in December 2016.
'A lot of football clubs have a hierarchy of first team and academy. I disagree with that and believe that, like in business, to maximise the potential in your assets you need to give them the best resources.
'We sign players on two or three-year contracts in that elite age group, from 17 to 21, where there aren't so many variables or influential factors.
'We're looking at players who have fallen out the system from Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester United, Man City, because it's inevitable they will make a few mistakes, that's the difficulty of recruitment - it's very hard to predict development.
'If you want to be a successful business or football club, you need to build it your own way, after considering what is sustainable, worthwhile and achievable within your environment.'