Alan Pace speaks in depth about his time working with Vincent Kompany

Alan Pace has spoken in glowing terms about former Burnley boss Vincent Kompany - describing him as one of the most “incredible” people he’s ever met.

While the Clarets owner met some high-profile names, such as former Prime Minister Tony Blair, working in his previous field of finance, very few measure up to the now Bayern Munich boss.

Pace appointed the Belgian in the summer of 2022 and he led the Clarets to the Championship title with 101 points.

The subsequent season in the Premier League didn’t work out as hoped, as Burnley suffered relegation with just 24 points to their name.

While Kompany shocked the footballing world by instantly moving to Munich, Pace still only has positive things to say about the former Manchester City captain.

“The crazy part is that I had no idea who he really was,” he told the For All The Saints podcast.

“We didn’t really know who Vince was and we actually went to go to a game of Man City, and it was one of my partners who called me over and told me there was a statue of Vince there, and no, I didn’t know, so he must really be a big deal.

“I was quite far down the path of looking for managers at the time and one of my partners came to me and said: ‘we should look at him’ and it was a mutual connection who made an introduction and I went to go and meet him.

“I have to say, from within the first five minutes of meeting him, I was smitten by the way he thinks, the way his brain works, the way he discussed things, the way we were able to communicate concepts and ideas, an endless dialogue to discuss football and life, the intersection of, he was just an amazing, amazing person from the very first moment I met him.

“I was due to get back on a train to come back and I ended up missing six trains because our meeting went so well.

“From there, we got to know each other much better and spent many more times of conversation. You know what, it’s probably been one of the best opportunities from my perspective to get to know someone so incredible, so talented, so amazing where you feel: ‘I’m not worthy, you’ve done so much and I will never get close to what you have done. Just to be in your orbit, to feel your sunshine if you will for a brief moment in time was phenomenal’.

“I feel that blessed around so many people that we’ve gotten a chance to meet, to know and to work with and it’s one of the great things that is lost on people. This sport brings people together and communities and it gives you opportunities you just don’t realise how incredible some of these people are. I am very fortunate to get to know them in a different way and their families.

“I would never have guessed that was going to be an opportunity coming into the sport and doing something like that.

“One of the things I enjoyed being on Wall Street and being a banker is that I got to meet a lot of dignitaries, a lot of very famous people but for other reasons and many of them were Kings and Princes and presidents and things like that, ambassadors.

“I always went into those conversations thinking: ‘what can I learn from this person?’, so I can remember meeting Condoleezza Rice and going: ‘wow’, I had no business being able to do that. Or meeting Tony Blair, or meeting President Bush, there were so many people I was so lucky to meet where, even spending 15 minutes or getting to have a conversation with or having dinner, meant so much.

“When I got into football you think: ‘okay, that’s all in the past’, but then you get to meet some of these athletes that have just incredible journeys as well and you think it’s just a different journey, but they’re just as incredible, if not more.

“Somebody asked me who is the most incredible person I’ve met so far, and I know people will never realise it in the same way that I do, but Vince is one of those.”

Getting choked up, Pace added: “People will be so lucky to get to meet him and know him for what he really is.”