One player missing from the Jets starting line-up that night was Ljubo Milicevic. Regan may not have played if the former Socceroo was fit.

But his special memories of the elegant and charismatic character remain.

“Beckham was a big character but also a humble guy. And it was amazing to meet him, though he was too busy laughing at Ljubo’s jokes to say too much!

“Ljubo knew everyone in Newcastle and basically organised everything for Beckham off the pitch!

“Ljubo organised the after-party and there were people from Home and Away [TV show] there.

“Ljubo was at nightspot Goldbergs with Beckham, too, the night before the game, for a dinner.

“If you wanted to party and have a good night, you contacted Ljubo, that’s for sure," recalled Regan. 

The era of characters in the A-League is probably over, with Milicevic and Archie Thompson now both retired from professional football.

Regan agrees but explains the difficulties for players who have an opinion.

“I guess we’re all victims of the system, to an extent. Unless you’re a big, big player, it’s hard to speak out because you can get thrown to the side if you say the wrong thing within the A-League.

“Archie was a different level and Ljubo again was so vocal about things, and he still is to this day.

“But in terms of football talent, I can’t compare to those guys. To say I’m a character in their league is probably a little different.

“And Ljubo's natural talent, to this day, I struggle to think of a player that had more potential than Ljubo. I played beside him at the start of my career and he was some footballer.

“I remember my debut in the A-League against Brisbane Roar in October 2010. And our manager at the time was Branko Culina.

Ljubo and Archie in their Victory days

“Branko told Ljubo before the game, ‘just stay beside Taylor and talk him through the game and don’t do anything silly or erratic'.

“And at one point I remember looking around and seeing the clock and it was 30 minutes in, and we’re up 1-0, and I looked to my right to see where is Ljubo.

“And he was playing right wing!

"He was doing step-overs and I was like, ‘what is going on here?!’ 

"He was meant to be leading me and there he is on the right side of attack giving it the razzle-dazzle. That was Ljubo for you… unique.

“Not long after that he played for Hajduk Split and played Stoke in the Europa League. He is a unique character but was very, very talented."

Keep an eye out for the second part of FTBL’s interview with Taylor Regan later in the week, where he discusses the social media talk about him returning to the A-League at Adelaide and how the comments about being “recycled rubbish” spurred him on.