It was just over a year ago that Dean Smith climbed into his car on a chilly autumn evening, left his home in Great Barr and set off for the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Birmingham.

He did not know it at the time, but it was a journey that was to change his life. The meeting at the Hyatt, shortly before midnight, was effectively a job interview for the vacant managerial post at Aston Villa. On Thursday, he celebrates one year in charge, with the club promoted back to the Premier League and winning over a new generation of fans with a thrilling brand of football.

It is an extraordinary rise, and reward for an arduous career path which started nearly 15 years ago in Leyton Orient’s youth academy. Smith has always craved this job, ever since standing in the Holte End as a fan with his brother Dave in the early 1980s.

“Everyone can see the passion and ideas Dean has for the club, but it’s almost like he is just starting,” says Richard O’Kelly, one of Smith’s assistants and a crucial figure behind the scenes over the last seven years.

“It’s not a case of him reaching his dream job and thinking that’s enough. He wants to come here and really achieve something. He is very focused on what he’s doing, building things, establishing a structure, and he does it really well.”