Former Kuala Lumpur captain Razip Ismail paid tribute to coach S. Subramaniam for his successful switch to the right back position.
Subramaniam died on Tuesday at the age of 85.
Razip, known as KL Captain Marvel, played under Subramaniam who was the city team coach from 1981-1984 and in 1993.
He revealed that Subramaniam was the one behind his successful change in position from right wing to right back.
Razip said he was part of the team that Subramaniam guided to the FA Cup title in 1993.
"I worked with Subramaniam when I was playing for KL and Kuala Lumpur City Hall. Not many know that I started my career as a forward, and only during KL tour in Brazil in 1982, I changed my position from right wing to right back following Subramaniam's advice," said former international Razip who was known for his swashbuckling overlapping runs.
"Subra had an uncanny ability to study a player, and he was very tolerant with me though we had our differences. He was a soft-spoken coach and preferred to work behind the scene.
"He was a key figure in KL's rise with Tan Sri Elyas Omar in the 1990s. It's a great loss to me and KL football, and I'm saddened to hear about his demise."
Subramaniam played a major role in KLFA's youth development programmes which unearthed talent such as Azrul Amri Burhan, Azmin Azram Abdul Aziz and T. Gopinath Naidu.
Subramaniam, who also served as Asian Football Confederation technical director in 1993, played a pivotal role in bringing former FAM technical director Richard Bate and former national coach Dr Josef Venglos to Malaysia.
A former school teacher, Subramaniam started his coaching career with youth teams and went on to work as assistant coach of the national squad under Dave McLaren in the 1970s.
He was part of the FIFA technical study group for the 1998 World Cup, and laid the foundation for the AFC coaching guidelines for various levels.