Ask Eddie Howe who was his biggest influence and the Newcastle United head coach won't name a manager or a figure in the game. It was his late mother, Anne.
Anne was a single parent who raised Howe and his siblings while holding down several jobs to help keep food on the table. It was Anne who encouraged her son to follow his dreams, who instilled the values of working hard and being the best he could be.
Anne may have died in 2012, following a short illness, but she understandably remains an inspiration for her son as the Newcastle boss prepares for the biggest game of his life: the Carabao Cup final against Manchester United.
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"I've sort of got a vision of her willing me on," Howe told ChronicleLive. "I've had that vision with me regularly, really. It's a strange feeling, but I feel her presence by my side. Whether we win, lose or draw, it's, 'Go on. You can do it'. That's helped me.
"That's really given me strength in difficult moments in my career. She will be there supporting me this weekend. I can feel it. I just hope, as always, I can do her proud."
Howe's wish to do his mother proud at Wembley on Sunday should not come as a surprise. It was Anne, after all, who brought up Howe, his older siblings Rowena, Dan and Charlie as well as his younger half-brother Steve, and her influence lives on.
Anne's first job of the day started at 4am at a newsagents and Howe would go with her from the age of seven or eight to help before heading off to school in Verwood. All these years later, it is not a coincidence that Howe still gets up early and starts work at Newcastle's training ground at 6am.
When it comes to Howe's love of the game, it was Anne who took him and Steve down to the park as kids - even stepping in as goalkeeper when necessary. When the pair went on to make it as professionals, Anne would divide her time watching her sons play.
Anne's death naturally came as a devastating blow to the family, but it only ended up spurring Howe on.
"I felt as if I was at a crossroads because although I was in management, I was very new to management and I was almost in a situation where I could let that moment dramatically affect me negatively or I could use it positively," he said.
"I've tried to use it positively by taking on the mantle and going, 'I'm going to give it more' because my mum sacrificed so much to give me an opportunity in football and in life with a good chance to have a successful life and I can't waste that opportunity she gave me. It was more thanking her in the right way rather than wallowing in a negative situation and then almost giving that opportunity away that she had worked so hard to give."
Losing his mother was one of the reasons why Howe ended up leaving Burnley to return to Bournemouth for a second spell in charge to be with those closest to him again. Howe went on to lead a side who were in League One at the time into the Premier League just a few years later.
That ability to build was what attracted the attention of Newcastle's owners in the first place and Howe could not have moved much further away from the family home on the South Coast when he took charge of the Magpies in November, 2021. However, Howe vowed to be 'all-in' from day one and his wife, Vicki, and three sons, Harry, Rocky and Theo, have all moved up and will all be there to cheer on Newcastle at Wembley.
"It's a strange one because I'm aware of their presence at the game," Howe added. "Although there is so much going on and you are focusing on what you're seeing, you are aware you have got people in your corner. I suppose the analogy would be like a boxer. You have someone in your corner that's there when things are tough or, when you are successful, you have got people who are sharing that moment with you. I very much feel that with my family.
"Although my boys are very young, at different ages and understanding things differently, they are very much a power of force and good for me. When I come home, they are very normal. They give me the odd Newcastle critique and, 'Why did you do this? Why did you do that?' But they are still young enough where it's not annoying so I'm still using it very much as a source of good."
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