John Costello is to step down as CEO of Dublin GAA in October, bringing the curtain down on three decades of leadership which delivered more All Ireland titles than most counties would only ever dream of through an entire history and plenty more besides.

He was always a calm figure, rarely to the fore apart from when he published generally the best-written County Annual report of the year, every year winning or losing, and that sense of staying away from the spotlight was echoed this week in the announcement of his stepping down.

Media were gathered online for a virtual launch of AIG’s final year of a ten-year partnership with James McCarthy and Eilis O’Dowd among the four code representatives. The conversations meandered around leadership and the return of Stephen Cluxton as well as the season ahead but it was only after the last window had been shut and the last question answered that the email announcement of his stepping down landed.

Under his tenure, Dublin has always been to the fore even in the first half of his tenure when there was a solitary Sam Maguire to celebrate.

Arnotts, Vodafone and AIG have been among the most celebrated and successful sporting sponsorships of all time but Costello’s role in creating the right framework for that to continue was important. He was the first CEO to appoint a Commercial manager in the shape of Tomás Quinn, and the importance of that sharing of the load will be evident in the coming months as negotiations continue around a new commercial partnership for a new decade.

Dublin’s clubs have won first ever Hurling All Ireland titles and multiple football ones and the way he manages the multiple demands of 200 clubs across the capital has been superb. In sports administration, being loved is impossible and being liked is even sometimes a challenge but there is unanimous respect for the man from Whitehall Colmcilles who has kept all the internal squabbles to a minimum and leaves a legacy of deep-rooted strength for Gaelic Games in the most ferociously competitive sporting environment there is.

There are those who argue that it was all about the money that Dublin gained but that discounts far too deeply the management required to get it in the first place, to distribute it in the right places and to build up clubs and structures that will remain after his door shuts for the last time.

I have had the pleasure to work alongside him on the Board of the Dublin City Sport and Wellbeing Partnership. His wry sense of humour, willingness to engage, and ability to get things done has been of the highest order.

So it’s one last lap in the inter-county season and the County Club Championships, one transition from a great commercial era to another and perhaps one last seat in the Croke Park Ard Chomhairle seats to see the handing over of one last Sam Maguire in July.

Maybe one last voice message recording saying that if you are looking for tickets, he’ll get back to you after the Final.

His will be big shoes to fill, with a skillset that was probably not on his application back in 1994 but which includes financial wizardry, diplomatic excellence and calm, above all calm.

It has been a pleasure to know him and we wish him all the best for whatever comes next.