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But in the end, this dried up. The dynasty failed. This was not because the system had broken down, it was because the luck of finding one exceptional player after another had run out. The system in the West Indies began to break as a result of the failure to find world-class inspirational players, not the other way round.

We have been witnessing much the same thing over the course of the past five years in England. The rugby team became unbeatable at Twickenham, they went to the southern hemisphere and beat Australia and New Zealand on their home turf. They won the World Cup. And then they fell apart.

Martin Johnson, the inspirational captain, retired. Jonny Wilkinson, the incomparable fly half, began his horrific series of injuries. The space and time at the sharp end went with Johno, the certainty that every transgression in the opposition half would be punished went with Jonny. The fault was not in the system but in the nature of rugby union — in a violent collision sport, retirement is a possibility in every game.

“World Cup’s not about development, last time I heard,” Sir Clive Woodward, the head coach, said.

This was the policy that won the great prize but it meant that the drop-off from excellence to mediocrity was dismayingly steep.

In football, Brazil have come closer to a continuing empire than any nation, but that is largely a matter of enormous playing resources. Their finest days are associated with Pelé — no Brazil team without him have been quite the same.

The rule is clearer with Argentina, a nation more thinly resourced. They were unbeatable only when they had Diego Maradona at the top of his game.

With great players as the focus, as the rallying point, as the creators of space and time, every other player was always at or near the top of his game. It is not hard to be a great manager if you can begin your day’s work by writing “10. Pelé” on the teamsheet.

When will the empire of Manchester United begin to crack? Most of us have predicted this every other year until we gave up through sheer embarrassment. Time and again, as playing personnel has changed dramatically, we have said, ah yes, that’s it, a catastrophically wrong-headed decision and now the wall must tumble and the empire crumble.

Paul Ince, Jaap Stam, Ruud van Nistelrooy — every time, Sir Alex Ferguson has succeeded in replacing his irreplaceables.

But the one irreplaceable he will never replace is himself. The greatness of Manchester United over the past decade and more has been the greatness of Ferguson, but the more success he has created, the more essential he has become. The seeds of Manchester United’s decline are to be found not in any one great player, but in the greatness of the ageing leader.

Sport is history simplified and romanticised. Time and again, the greatness of a team is the story of a great man — great, at least, in the terms of sport. Warne, Johnson, Maradona — they could hardly help but create great teams. They could hardly help but destroy them a little when they went.