Chris Ramsey has forged a reputation as one of the leading youth coaches in the UK. His experience and expertise landed Ramsey a prestigious job with Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur where he occupies the dual post of assistant academy manager and head of player development.
What many people don't know about Ramsey is that, during his playing career he turned out for Naxxar Lions in the early 1990s.
Over 15 years have passed since Ramsey called time on his spell with Naxxar but recently, he revived his Maltese connections after receiving a surprise call from Ray 'Zazu' Farrugia, who was Naxxar's player-coach when the Englishman played for the club.
"I had an excellent relationship with Ray," Ramsey said.
"When I first came to Malta, it was he who helped me settle in when I joined Naxxar. Zazu is a great coach and a very helpful person.
"I enjoyed my time in Malta as Naxxar won two promotions and also got to the cup final. Coming to play in Malta was one of the best things I've ever done in my life."
Farrugia, who is perhaps best known for a successful four-year tenure as Malta U-21 coach, now runs the Zazu Football School.
His excellent ties with Ramsey have also made a young Maltese player's dream come true as Dylan Meli recently enjoyed a training experience with the Tottenham Hotspur youth academy.
"We recently hosted a young player from the Zazu Football School," Ramsey said.
"He had five training sessions and also played friendly matches. Dylan showed a very positive attitude and I believe he enjoyed the experience with Tottenham Hotspur."
Invited to expound on his role as one of the top-ranked men at the Tottenham academy, the softly-spoken Ramsey said: "Here, I deal mainly with player development.
"I'm also involved in scouting and coaching education. When I worked for the English FA several years ago, I trained the likes of Steven Gerrard (the Liverpool captain) and Joe Cole (Chelsea). It was the time when Howard Wilkinson was the technical director of the English FA."
After hanging up his boots, Ramsey went about acquiring as many qualifications as possible, from the top coaching badges to two degrees in sports science and management courses.
"If I didn't get a job because there was someone better, fine. But there was no way I was going to allow anyone to tell me I was not qualified enough," Ramsey said in an interview with an English football magazine over six years ago.
Ramsey, who was the head coach of the England U-20 team for the 1999 World Youth Championship, also had a positive experience in the United States where he was director of coaching with a club in Florida and also had a spell as coach of A-League team Charleston Battery, but he's justifiably delighted to be working for the youth academy of a Premier League club.
"Tottenham is a big club," Ramsey said.
"I think we've got a good chance of doing well this season. Harry Redknapp came in last season and pulled it round."
Ramsey, honoured by England's House of Lords for his efforts to defeat racism in football, believes Tottenham have some interesting players coming through.
"It's becoming more and more difficult for young players to make it to the top because of the prevailing buying culture among clubs but with the talent we've got at the academy, you expect that, at least, some of them go on to make a living out of football," he said.
Meanwhile, the Zazu Football School's winter schedule will commence on September 28. Training sessions are held daily at the San Gwann FC ground.
One may obtain more details by phoning 9947-7910 or visit www.zazufootballschool.com.