It is one of those strange things about following sport that you come to realise that club loyalty generally exists far more among the supporters than the participants themselves.

Many fans spend a lifetime committed to one club, seeing a host of players make contributions ranging from the fantastic to the fleeting.

While many sportsmen move on at the first sign of a few pound signs, many supporters can feel their money is going to fund players who care less than them.

In the week that he announced his retirement from rugby, that is not an accusation that can be levelled at Harlequins winger Ugo Monye.

Having got past the fact someone born in 1983 should be retiring from anything is a little disconcerting, it was heartwarming to hear Monye talk more about how much playing for Quins meant to him, even putting playing for his home-city club above the most spectacular of tries for the British & Irish Lions on their South Africa tour of 2009.

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When he tweeted this week about “feeling incredibly blessed to have played at the club I love for 13 years”, they weren’t the kind of hollow words you get from your average footballer who turns up at a club and claims they always supported them.

Robbie Keane may not have said that upon signing for Coventry, but he certainly said something along those lines about Spurs, Liverpool and Celtic.

In Monye’s case, he really did transfer his childhood support onto the rugby field.

Director of rugby Conor O’Shea this week revealed how that loyalty was tested, saying: “He was offered twice the money we were offering to join a top French club, but he turned it down to be with the club he always dreamed of playing for.”

Monye has been a tremendous role model both for his club and the sport during his 13-year career.

It is sportsmen such as Monye who the public can connect with when they hand over their money at the turnstile – the ones that recognise they are living the dream.