Kenny Dalglish, Roy Hodgson and Brian Kidd still inspiring York City's new academy manager Keith Brown

Brown, 36, became an apprentice at Blackburn Rovers as former Liverpool legend Dalglish was guiding the first team to the Premier League title in 1995.

He went on to work under future England boss Hodgson and ex-Manchester United coach Kidd and admits that the values all three extolled are still instilled in him and will be passed on to his Minstermen charges.

Brown, who was in the same Ewood Park youth team as the likes of Damien Duff, James Beattie and David Dunn, said: “The club had just won the title when I arrived there with Kenny Dalglish as first-team manager, so the place was on a high.

“Jack Walker had built the academy and Ewood Park had been done up, so it was a good time to go in as a young scholar. You never stop learning but, at that crucial age of 16 or 17, I had some excellent mentors and that put me in good stead for the rest of my career.

“You’re going from being a boy to a man and you can’t get better than having people like Brian Kidd, Roy Hodgson and Kenny Dalglish, along with Alan Irvine and Rob Kelly who were running the youth team, giving you a football education.

“All those great managers and coaches had their own individual takes on the game, but what they all had in common was a belief in discipline and a strong work ethic and that shapes your future when it is drummed into you as a teenager.

“It becomes part of your mentality and mindset and it’s what has made me into the coach I am today. It’s what I still believe in.”

As a player, Brown never quite made the grade at Blackburn but went on to play for Barnsley in a 4-2 Championship play-off final to Ipswich at the old Wembley in 2000, before returning to his Scottish roots and turning out for Falkirk and Berwick Rangers.

He went on to finish his playing days in Australia at the age of 30 and reckons that overseas experience, coupled with managing the early disappointment of missing out on Premier League promotion with the Tykes, has helped shape him into a rounded coach.

Brown completed his UEFA A and B coaching badges when he landed back on British shores and, in 2011, became youth development phase coach at Hearts, where he helped nurture the talents of current Scotland under-21 internationals Sam Nicholson and Jordan McGhee, who recently moved to Middlesbrough on loan.

A move to Accrington Stanley as academy manager followed when his old pal Beattie was first-team chief and the unfashionable Lancashire club’s junior ranks enjoyed unprecedented success under Brown’s stewardship.

“It was a very successful two-year period,” he pointed out. “We produced players and sold some to the Championship, so the club were making good money from our development work.

“Connor Maloney went to Blackburn and we had Josh Windass coming through, who has since joined Rangers. We also made club history by reaching the last 16 of the FA Youth Cup thanks to the good staff and team working alongside me.”

A chance to join Dunn’s first-team coaching staff at Oldham then arose last season and, whilst admitting that was the next natural step up the coaching career ladder, Brown has no complaints about focussing on younger players again.

“I love working at all levels from children to senior professionals and it’s important for any coach to do that,” he stressed.

Nor, in this era of meeting multi-layered EPPP (Elite Player Performance Plan) requirements, does Brown mind the administrative demands of his new post.

“It’s more a role overseeing the department and making sure we are functioning properly on a daily basis,” he explained. “There’s a lot of computer work involved, which is good for myself, as a coach, to see the other side of things.

“I still try and get out on the training field if I can and I’m watching as many games and training sessions as I can, from under-nines right the way through. I also go to every under-18s game to support (youth-team coach) Steve (Torpey) and I aim to put on sessions for every group if and when I can.

“But, at the moment, it’s important to go through all the key factors of the performance plan and how it’s working, as well as seeing how we can improve going forward.”

Like Brown, Torpey has returned to youth coaching after a spell at City in the senior set-up.

Both men also share common goals and principles with Brown outlining: “Steve is a first-class coach, who I enjoy working with.

“I’m impressed with the way he goes about his business. He works very hard and is good on the training pitch, which is reflected in how his teams play.

“It’s important that the academy manager and youth-team coach get along and communicate well together. We also have the same beliefs and football philosophy as the first-team manager and know what type of players he wants at the club, as well as the education we want to give them.

“Jackie (McNamara) wants a winning mentality right the way through the club and it’s important that we try and create that.”

Edinburgh-born Brown has also declared himself pleased with the general quality of the academy he has inherited, whilst earmarking room for improvement at the same time.

He added: “There are some good young players with great potential in all the age groups. There are areas that we need to strengthen too, which is the same at any academy, but we are striving to put them right and have identified certain age groups where we need to recruit better.”

Brown is not fretting, meanwhile, over the age-old problem of trying to ward off the likes of high-profile neighbours Leeds United, who have lured away the likes of Sam Bryam, Lewis Cook, Charlie Taylor and now Ronaldo Vieira from the city in recent years.

“Big clubs always come in and try and take your players away,” Brown reasoned. “I’ve seen that happen wherever I’ve been, but you can’t complain about it.

“All you can do is keep trying to produce players for the club and the first team, which is what you want ideally. But, if they go on and earn the club some money, then fantastic, because our job is to produce players.”