Accepting that at first glance Ballantyne’s CV did not stand up against some of the other applicants, Wong said: “I love him – he has a great character and philosophy.”

Head coach at Devonport City in Tasmania for the past five years, the 41-year-old Ballantyne was not concerned about joining a club where his predecessor lasted just four games.

“It’s football; if you don’t do well, you get fired,” he said. “If you do well, you’re safe in your job.

“I’ve just left a club where we were expected to win every game. If we drew, there’d be meetings about it. I’m lucky, I’ve been in full-time football for 15 years and never been sacked.”

Undergoing a crash course in Supreme, Ballantyne quickly discovered that Wong would be part of his squad.

“I just thought, ‘OK, the chairman plays’ … there are different things to deal with wherever you are,” Ballantyne said. “Back in 1992, Alex Ferguson had his son [Darren] in the Manchester United team.”

From the market town of Ross-on-Wye, Ballantyne played for Ross Town, and “dabbled with Hereford United”.

“Not having the traditional background of an elite player, I knew I would have to forge my own coaching route,” he said.

Instead of going to university, he “worked nights in a supermarket, so I could coach during the day”, meaning he often survived on just two hours’ sleep.

“I also watched as many sessions as I could,” he added. “I’d go wherever I could be part of training, or pick up someone’s cones.”

Backpacking around Australia at 21, Ballantyne grew “intrigued with the coaching process” in the country.

“It was tactically driven from very young,” he said. “I arrived expecting them to be behind [the UK], but, coaching wise, they were ahead. It’s why you see so many Australians coaching around the world.”

After returning home, Ballantyne immediately began collecting his coaching badges and “it took off from there”.

During one course, Dennis Mortimer, Aston Villa’s 1982 European Cup-winning captain, invited Ballantyne to work as a development and community coach at the club.

Concurrently, he held coaching posts with Cardiff, Cheltenham Town and the Herefordshire Football Association.

“I spent lots of time on the road, but I had to keep saying yes to things,” Ballantyne said.

“The sheer number of sessions I coached over a short period of time, covering real amateurs to elite kids, and everything in between, meant I had to learn very fast. You had to adapt, sometimes on the fly, and it gave me a fantastic foundation.”

In 2012, Ballantyne chose an offer to become Adelaide United’s head academy coach over one from the English FA to coach in disability football at Chelsea’s Cobham training headquarters.

“I probably rushed my decision,” he said. “My wife’s from Australia and we jumped at it … it was a good experience, but I had to set up [the academy]. Bits were in place, but it wasn’t what I thought I was getting into.”

Nonetheless, the role led to Ballantyne also coaching Sturt Marion Women’s Soccer Club, a post he held for almost 5½ years. With Devonport, he managed both the men’s and women’s teams.

Ballantyne said that in “walking between the two worlds” he heeded the words of two-time World Cup winner Mia Hamm, who said she wanted to be “coached like a man, and treated like a woman”.

“Coaching women, you have to explain why we’re going to do something,” Ballantyne said. “With the men, you tell them what to do, then go from there.”

Adelaide club, The Cove, gave a 28-year-old Ballantyne his first senior head coach job, although that came with the daunting prospect of “trying to sell a vision to a bunch of people who’d already had a coach that season”.

After six years in South Australia, and another two managing Magpie Crusaders United in Queensland, Ballantyne moved to Tasmania for his hugely decorated Devonport stint.

“Each state plays very different football, so it’s been good for my learning,” he said. “In South Australia, it’s a slow, tactical, Italian-style game. Queensland’s very transitional football, and in Tasmania it’s very English: the ball’s in the air a lot, and it’s about first and second contacts.”

Ballantyne’s “very understanding” wife has been a “football widow since we met”, but even her patience was tested when her husband was given 90 minutes notice for his Supreme interview.

“We were watching my son play football,” he said. “We were 70 minutes from home. I took the car, and told my wife she’d have to find her own way back.”

Ballantyne was attracted by the “really exciting project” Wong had in mind, and with a similar football ethos said “it felt like the stars were aligning”.

Supreme recently made a splash when they tempted former Manchester City and Spain forward David Silva out of retirement to play for the club, albeit in a single encounter against BC Rangers on November 7.

On the prospect of coaching a man who counts Pep Guardiola, Unai Emery and Roberto Mancini as former bosses, Ballantyne said: “I think other people are more worried about it than I am.

“As far as I’m concerned, he’s a football player who I have to manage and have conversations with. It’s a great opportunity for everybody here, and I’m looking forward to it.”

With pop-star ambassadors in local girl group Collar and live music at home games, newly promoted Supreme are averaging four-figure attendances. They attracted 3,329 and 4,592 for games at Mong Kok Stadium against Eastern and Lee Man, respectively, and hope for more when Silva runs out for them at 5,000-seat Kai Tak Youth Sports Ground.

“Fair play to Jim for being brave enough to do it,” Ballantyne said. “It brings numbers, which increases revenue and introduces better players. That’s what needs to happen for Hong Kong football.”

A 2-2 draw against Football Club in his first match last weekend arrested a run of three straight league defeats.

“We want to quickly improve our level, then sign players over the next couple of transfer windows who raise our ceiling,” Ballantyne said.

“We have some young players who excite us, and this is a long-term project. It’s all I’m focused on. I’ll only think about what’s next when it runs its natural course, whether that’s me being fired or another opportunity coming along.”