When Paul Green left Chelsea after 13 years, he had achieved so much success that the majority of his medals were hidden away in a box under the bed.
It was only when he had gone that he truly began to appreciate what he had done.
The former Chelsea head of women's football formed a formidable partnership with ex-manager Emma Hayes and helped lead the Blues to 19 major trophies.
He left suddenly in February amid reports of unrest in Chelsea's hierarchy.
Asked about his exit, Green told BBC Sport: "Look, football clubs move on and a lot of people have changed at that club in recent years.
"I think ultimately they chose to go in a different direction but I feel very proud of the job that I did there and I left the club in a lot better position than when I first went in there."
Under Green's leadership, Chelsea won six successive Women's Super League titles, the last coming under current manager Sonia Bompastor in 2025.
They became the most dominant force in the WSL and reached the Women's Champions League final in 2021.
"It was an incredible time. There was a lot of potential that Emma Hayes sold to me and that came to fruition," said Green.
"What the [players] went on to achieve, in my eyes, will never be beaten and it will be difficult for any team to replicate that type of dominance.
"It was some of the best times of my life. It's probably not until you're out of it that you actually appreciate what the success was.
"I had so many medals that were just chucked under the bed in a box. I've had time to get them framed. Now I've got a new chapter here at Bay FC."
Green had seven months out of football before he was appointed as chief football officer of San Francisco club Bay FC in September.
He admitted the response to his Chelsea exit had been "overwhelming" and he needed time to adapt, spending time with his family in the meantime.
"It was people just in the general women's football world who really appreciated the work and success that we had there," said Green.
"Of course, that touched me and it took me forever to get back to everybody who had reached out because there was that many.
"I guess all things have to come to an end at some stage and I've gone in a different direction now.
"In the early days, having a lack of structure was difficult because I had gone from 13 years of having certain routines. That part was difficult."
It is clear that Green is excited by the future at Bay FC.
He has taken over a project that is being led by former Football Association (FA) director Kay Cossington and comes under the multi-club ownership of Bay Collective.
Green hopes to use his extensive knowledge in the transfer market to recruit some of the world's best players and to build an effective organisation.
"They sold me the vision for the club. It became too good an opportunity to turn down," said Green.
"The potential there of building something really special is what I'm looking forward to. I think it's got some similarities to the early days at Chelsea."
Bay FC are moving into new training facilities next year and Green has vowed to act in the transfer window to improve their league position.
They are currently third bottom with three matches left in the National Women's Soccer League 2026 season.
"The team hasn't done as well as everybody would like it to do. We are where we are in the league so we need to try and improve the roster immediately," said Green.
"With the connections and network that I've built up over 20 years, I'm confident that I can bring in a few players to help the good nucleus of talent we've got.
"You have to have the infrastructure right off the pitch in terms of staffing and facilities and that's something we are working on."
During Green's time at Chelsea, he oversaw the development of several English players including homegrown talents Aggie Beever-Jones and Lexi Potter.
Potter made her debut in England's 5-0 win over Greece last week, while Beever-Jones was part of the squad who won Euro 2025.
However, there is concern for the future of England's youngsters with gametime for homegrown players reducing in recent years.
What does Green suggest the solution is?
"Players still need exposure and the way we tried to do it at Chelsea was by having a good loan programme," said Green.
"You need to find the right partner club to develop the player. But if you haven't got that resource, maybe young players have to go abroad to play.
"There is the proposal of a 'B team' that a lot of other European leagues have that works very successfully in Germany and Spain.
"I do think if they came in at level three of the pyramid that would help because the academy isn't what it used to be. I know that's very controversial."
The FA's director of women's football Sue Day said it was an area that needs addressing, while England manager Sarina Wiegman admitted her concern.
"Not enough of our young players are playing enough football and I think we'd all agree with that," said Day.
"I don't think you ever want to, even if you could, impose anything regulatory. We all need to work together in this system to make it work.
"The FA, the clubs and the league are all on the same side. Clubs are going to create value from investment they are putting into developing players."