It is not that long since Jan Paul van Hecke played part-time football in rural Zeeland and spent Thursday evenings at the pub.
Now, he reluctantly admits when asked the question, he might just be the most famous person from Arnemuiden.
Well, it’s either him or his uncle Jan, who played for Holland in a World Cup final.
“Yeah. But it's not that hard!” he said with a laugh when asked if he was indeed the biggest name to come from the small town – population about 5,000 – on the Zeeland peninsula between Rotterdam and the border with Belgium.
But the fame could increase now he has followed his mum’s brother Jan Poortvliet into the senior Netherlands squad.
Van Hecke’s excellent form from the last season-and-a-bit was rewarded when he was called in by former ball-playing centre-back Ronald Koeman for UEFA Nations League action.
Holland play Bosnia-Herzegovina in Eindhoven tomorrow evening with van Hecke replacing injury-troubled Micky van de Ven in the squad.
He is not expected to start but he is part of it. The pride of Arnemuiden – along with Uncle Jan.
Van Hecke said: “My uncle doesn't really live in the town anymore.
“I don’t either, but I quite often go back. So yes, him or me, I think!
“It's a small town. Not really any big cities around.
“I just come from a village, and it's really, like, togetherness.
“The people all really grow up with each other really well.
“So now that I’m playing professional football, they love it.
“In a few weeks, they’re coming with two buses of 100 people to our game.
“My brother and a friend of his arranged that.
“He gets the tickets, the hotel, he arranges everything and they all come together.”
Van Hecke has not heard much about his uncle’s career.
Poortvliet made more than 250 appearances for PSV when they were rivals to the Johann Cruyff-inspired Ajax.
He was in the Holland squad who, in Cruyff’s absence, reached the final of the 1978 World Cup, only to go down controversially to hosts Argentina.
Asked whether Poortvliet has shown him any memorabilia from those days, Van Hecke said: “He was quite humble so he didn't really show us.
“He had nice stories about other players, not about himself.
“The only thing he said to me was, ‘I played once against Johann Cruyff and he had a tough game’.
“In Holland, he was quite big. He said they got a bit robbed in that game (the World Cup final).”
Van Hecke was aware of the potential pitfalls of trying to break into the professional game.
That is why he studied at his local college while he was playing amateur football.
He said: “Maybe I would have become a sports teacher if I hadn't become a footballer. That's what I was training for.
“I lived the student life and played football at Goes, where I earned some money.
“On Thursdays, I sometimes went to the pub.
“Then the opportunity came and I told myself and my family that this was the moment and that I was going to do everything I could.
“After a year I got a contract and then things moved quickly.'
That opportunity, at NAC of Breda, led to him being spotted by Albion, followed by loan spells at Heerenveen and Blackburn.
He spoke recently about how he was shown the loan path the Seagulls had traced for him, similar to that of Ben White, and how he was slightly sceptical at first.
But it has worked to perfection and could see him become the first man from Zeeland province to play for the Oranje since Peter van Vossen in 2000.
He said: 'If you see where I come from, this call-up for Oranje is very special.
“Six years ago I was still playing with the amateurs.
“I was in the Zeeland youth academy, but I realised that no clubs were coming.
“Then you have to make sure you have a normal life in case you don't become a footballer.”
Now van Hecke hopes to see these international trips become the new normal.
On Tuesday, he will meet up with Pascal Gross when Germany visit the Johann Cruyff Arena, also in the Nations League.
It was thanks to Gross that van Hecke knew a bit of what to expect when Fabian Huerzeler took charge at Albion.
The defender said: “I already knew who he was when they said his name because he was here last year as well a few times.
“He watched our games. He was in contact with Pascal at the time.
“So I knew already, because I’m quite good with Pascal, I knew he was watching our games.
“He said he was doing really well in the second Bundesliga.
“I said, ‘I love football’ so I Googled him at that time and then I knew who he was. But I didn’t know he was coming in a year later!”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here