At a lectern where prime minsters, presidents and film stars have stood, Roy Hodgson became latest high-profile figure to address the Union Chamber at Cambridge University.
"It's an honour to be here," he told the 400 students and alumni crammed in to the famous room.
On the night itself, another esteemed speaker was also addressing the room. Mike Rogers, US Congressman and chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, had delivered a lecture on the security challenges facing the global community.
The pair met briefly backstage and then it was the England manager's turn to address the room, which was by now a standing-room-only affair.
He began his address by talking of his 38 years in management, since moving to Sweden in 1976 to embark on a coaching career at the age of 28.
"I'll skip over my playing career because quite frankly it wasn't worth mentioning," he joked.
Roy Hodgson gave a 40-minute speech on the philosophy of leadership
He then told the story of how he went from a young coach in Sweden to manager of England – via Switzerland, Italy, United Arab Emirates, Norway and Finland – and of course Fulham and Liverpool.
In a room full of aspiring captains of industry and future political powerhouses, England's top coach then turned the discussion to his own take on the 'philosophy of leadership'.
The increased emphasis on coaching and learning, the challenges that come with limited contact time with players and the attention to detail that goes into preparing an elite sport team were all covered.
Then Hodgson opened the floor to questions.
Immediately hands went up in every corner of the room.
The first question focused on what he perceived England's chances at Euro 2016 to be.
"I’d like to think our prospects are good," replied Hodgson.
Around 400 students and alumni attended the talk
"This batch of young players are an exciting group, there’s no doubt about their talent and potential.
"We’re daring to dream. Whether we’re favourites or not it doesn’t matter.
"It’s 11 men against 11 men, and if we're a team that is well organised we're going to make life difficult for our opponents.
"If you can be solid and hard to beat and add players like Sterling, Sturridge, Wilshere – players that can win you games – then who knows."
On the subject of his captain Wayne Rooney, Hodgson was full of praise for the forward's attitude and his willingness to always put the team ahead of his own needs.
"The one thing I will tell you about him is that he’s a very passionate person about playing for his country," he said.
Leading figures from politics, sport and entertainment have spoken at the Union Chamber
"He’s a super professional and the one thing I know I can get from Wayne is that I can trust him.
"That’s a great quality for a player to give a coach. I’m speaking from years and years of experience when I say that reliability is an essential quality.
"I don’t know if I knew that at your age, but I know that now."
And on whether he is a better player today than when he burst onto the international scene in 2004, Hodgson quipped back with a quote that would have resonated with the crowd of young academics.
"It was Oscar Wilde who said comparisons are odious," he replied.
"I can’t compare and I certainly don’t have the right to compare. I can only comment on Rooney over two years I've been working with him."
"I met him for the first time to work with him in 2012 when I took the team over and in those two years he’s not changed at all.
"I believe Wayne is going to have an important role to play."
Gary Neville – a member of his England coach staff – also came up for discussion.
Asked whether he could one day follow in Hodgson's footsteps and manage his country, he replied: "The big question with Gary is whether he would want to do it.
"He’s doing his coaching qualifications, and of course he’s got his media work. That’s also a very important job.
Roy Hodgson posed for photographs with students after the talk
"He’s got tremendous energy. His mind is always working. He’s got a very critical mind which is useful sometimes and we're very delighted to have him with us."
The session moved on to discussions about the role of statistics in the modern game, then to the impact of the media and its influence on young players.
The final question was on the age-old club versus country issue, and one which Hodgson answered firmly.
"In two-and-a-half years I’ve not had one situation where a manager has tried to drag a player out of the team or that he doesn’t want the player to take part," he said.
"If their manager said they didn’t want the player to go a lot of them would turn around and say ‘I’m sorry, I’m playing for England and I want to go’.
"I think there’s been club and country conflicts in the past, but I’ve been shielded from it. I’ve been lucky."
