More than half a century has passed since Malcolm Allison drove to a village on the outskirts of Swansea and appeared unannounced on Steve Lovell's doorstep.
'It's Sunday morning and Mum's doing the hoovering when there's a big knock on the door,' recalls Lovell, from the manager's office at Gillingham's Priestfield Stadium.
'She opened up the door and he was standing there. That left quite an impression. He was great with us. Great with my Mum.'
Allison's plan was to intercept interest from Manchester United and Tottenham, and convince the Lovells their teenage son ought to join him at Crystal Palace.
The Big Mal charm worked its magic. Lovell left home at 16, signed for Palace and so began an extraordinary journey which returns to its source on Saturday as the Gills face Swansea in the FA Cup.
Along the way, there were two FA Youth Cup victories and a role in Palace's 'Team of the 80s' under Terry Venables.
There were four years with George Graham at Millwall where Lovell converted from full-back to striker and reached the FA Cup quarter-finals, a run which ended on the night of the notorious riot at Luton's Kenilworth Road.
There were six caps for Wales, six games on loan for Swansea under Terry Yorath and Wembley glory at the age of 40, playing up front for 45 minutes as Deal Town won the FA Vase.
Then there were four separate spells at Gillingham and a long quest for the manager's role which he finally claimed in October 2017.
'It took me 25 years to get the job I wanted,' says Lovell. 'I remember going for it in 1992, when I was still playing, and got to the final interview when it was between me and Glenn Roeder, and Glenn got the job.
'So, the first player to be booted out was me. I was gone in five weeks. You don't want a player around who wanted your job, that's understandable. It didn't matter if I was top scorer.'
In five years as a Gills player, Lovell scored 104 goals. Only three players have more, but off he went into non-league football until 2000, when he returned to join the club's community scheme.
'I did everything,' says Lovell. 'Coaching in the freezing cold in a field in the middle of nowhere, running the girls' teams, wheelchair football, disabled football, soccer schools, education work.
'Our coaches went into schools to assist the kids with their writing. We did breakfast clubs, after-school clubs, and Tommy T, our mascot, had his own coaching sessions in the evenings.'
Lovell quit for the manager's job at Ashford Town but returned via six years in community and academy coach roles at Charlton to become coach of Gillingham's Under-18s.
In December 2014, he, Andy Hessanthaler, Darren Hare and Mark Patterson were handed joint caretaker control of the first team. The 'Gang of Four' became a permanent venture and lasted for more than a year, until Justin Edinburgh was appointed as manager.
Lovell remained as Edinburgh's coach for 18 months, left to be assistant manager of Bromley and returned for his fourth spell at Priestfield as assistant to Aidy Pennock, two years ago.
When Pennock was fired and Peter Taylor stepped down from his roles as director of football and interim manager soon afterwards, chairman Paul Scally finally offered him the job.
'I thought I'd never get the opportunity,' says Lovell. 'I wanted to manage. I wanted to test myself. I knew I could do it. The chairman knew how I felt but he'd never asked me before.
'When Aidy left and Peter took over I thought that was it. I was in the car with my wife, saying I thought my chance had gone and I'd see how it went until the end of the season and then look for something else.
'I parked in the drive, got out the car and the phone rang and it was the chairman. He said: "Peter's left and you're in charge".'
Gillingham were deep in trouble with only seven points from 12 games in League One, but Lovell won his first game at Peterborough and kept them up with points to spare.
'Walking back from the dug-out when the final whistle went at Peterborough was the best walk I'd ever done in football,' he says. 'All I can remember is the blue corridor on the way to the dressing room.
'People might have been saying "well done" or whatever but I just wanted to get back and congratulate the players.
'You've been given this opportunity to manage a club you've played for and spent such a lot of time with, working with all these people you know and people you like.
'This was the best feeling. Then I thought, "I want more of it" and I thought, "I'm glad I've waited this long to have this feeling". Maybe it's fate. Maybe it was meant to be.'
It promises to be another emotional day for Lovell at the Liberty Stadium. Having stunned Premier League Cardiff in the last round, with a late goal by Elliot List, he did not hesitate to name Swansea away when asked who he wanted next.
Lovell played rugby at school but was reared on stories from the Vetch Field, where his father, Alan, had been a young professional, training and playing with Ivor Allchurch, Cliff Jones and Mel Charles before combining an amateur playing career with 30 years in the Ford factory.
'He was only in the reserves but I've seen pictures of them playing in front of 30,000,' says Lovell. 'He went on and played for Poole Town and scored a lot of goals in semi-pro. He was a little No 10, quick and good in the air.
'When I was really young, I was more into books than sport, so my Dad took me down the Vetch to get me interested and he'd take me to the local field on a Sunday morning, just one-v-one and he'd coach me, and he started a boys team with his friend called Dunvant and Three Crosses.
'He loved his football. He was a season-ticket holder at the Liberty. He saw them go all the way up and all the way down and all the way up again.'
Alan died after suffering a stroke seven years ago, but Lovell's mother Brenda and his sister Julie will be in the stands at the Liberty and they will understand the significance.
'I'm sure he'll be looking down and watching us,' smiles Lovell. 'Hopefully we don't get hammered. Otherwise he'll be watching through his hands.'