Former Queenstown Airport boss the late Scott Paterson had a foray into football, serving as a director on the Fifa Under-20 World Cup board. He talked to David Williams in July in what was one of his last media interviews.
You could argue Scott Paterson was a fish out of water.
A rugby man appointed to the board of the Fifa Under-20 World Cup?
But Mr Paterson - who played senior rugby at the Ponsonby and Waitemata clubs - was the kind of fish that could grow lungs.
Look at his appointment to head the Queenstown Airport Corporation.
Upon landing in March 2012, the man experienced in quarries and ports took the ODT's questions with his usual good grace and humour.
''[You may ask] why would you appoint someone from Auckland who has never run an airport before? This isn't a big prank from the board.''
Mr Paterson, who died last month from cancer, got his Fifa Under-20 board berth by chance after running into a former workmate who was working on the tournament project.
He offered to help, New Zealand Football later approached him and he was appointed as an independent director to the board and the audit and risk committee.
Ticket sales were a major focus, not only for the atmosphere but for the tournament's financial health.
There was ''always anxiety''about ticket sales, but the public responded well, Mr Paterson said.
The event would run at a surplus, he said - but a small one.
New Zealand Football won't be able to sit back and live off the proceeds.
Crowds totalled 300,000 - about on a par with the Cricket World Cup.
Mr Paterson said he was left with admiration for New Zealand Football and what it was trying to achieve. His son plays the game and he even took it up himself in his 30s.
At the grassroots, Mr Paterson said, the game was ''hellishly strong'' and popular - but at the upper echelons it had issues.
That might be understating things.
Just before the Under 20 tournament, 14 current or former Fifa officials were arrested by Swiss authorities on behalf of United States authorities, after a three-year FBI investigation.
Even now the scandal - involving allegations of bribes and kickbacks related to bids for the World Cup - rolls on.
Criminal proceedings have been launched against Fifa president Sepp Blatter and yesterday it was confirmed he had been provisionally banned for 90 days.
Back in May - the day after the arrests in Switzerland - New Zealand-based Fifa officials called a press conference in Auckland to publicise the start of the Under-20 tournament.
They then refused to answer difficult questions about the arrests, including whether Mr Blatter would quit.
''I remember thinking this is really a test of character for New Zealand Football. And so I was very proud that they chose to go against their Oceania colleagues and vote against Blatter for president - personally I was proud,'' Mr Paterson said.
What is Mr Paterson's insider's impression of Fifa?
Any backhanders?
''No brown envelopes,'' he said, adding: ''I got a big paper bag with Fifa branding on it, which had a World Cup football in it. So the koha I got was very limited.
''I didn't see any sign of what they talked about in Zurich.''
Fifa's president might claim there is no corruption, but Mr Paterson said there was a perception in a large part of the world that there was.
Changing that perception is Fifa's challenge.
''There's going to have to be some major changes to turn a large part of the world around as to how this game's managed,'' Mr Paterson said.
Fifa Under 20 World Cup chief Dave Beeche said Scott Paterson made a massive contribution to the success of the tournament.
''His business acumen and ability to cut through the [nonsense] to the essence of an issue was un-paralleled. Combined with his sharp wit and good humour this made him an outstanding board member and a valued friend.''
His death would leave a big gap in the country's commercial landscape, Mr Beeche said.
