Former EFL chief Shaun Harvey has revealed that he tried to hold the Carabao Cup draw in space.
Harvey was appointed EFL chief executive in July 2013 and vacated his position at the end of last season after being asked to step down by the board.
'Genuinely, we opened up discussions with the International Space Station,' Harvey said in his first interview, with The Telegraph, since being ousted.
'Part of all this was: could we get the draw done in space?' he added in a bid to stress his seriousness about having the 2017-18 semi-final draw on the ISS.
The 49-year-old Yorkshireman said he even mentioned it in his programme notes for that season's final, won by Manchester City.
Harvey, who was the CEO of Leeds United, as well as a club director, raised eyebrows when in August 2017, the draw was held a little bit closer to home, in Beijing at 4.15am UK time.
In June that year the first-round draw took place in Bangkok, Thailand - both draws were attempts to give the game maximum exposure in the Asian markets.
Harvey, who - prior to joining Leeds - was also managing director at Bradford City was joined by ex-Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder Emmanuel Petit and Brian Davidson, the British ambassador to Thailand, for the draw in the capital.
After also being held in Ho Chi Minh City in recent years, the first-round draw for the 2019-20 campaign in June took place in a Morrisons supermarket in London.
But the somewhat eccentric football bigwig said his only regret was the timing, not the geography, of the draws.
Harvey was chief executive at Leeds for nine seasons, but that did little to guard against them seriously discussing a vote of no confidence, alongside other rebel clubs, against him in November last year.
He had angered clubs by going ahead with a £595m Sky Sports TV deal without, they say, consulting them properly.
Despite this, Harvey insists he is happy with his five-and-a-half years in charge, telling The Telegraph: 'I’d like to think the league was a better place when I left that when I arrived.'