And perhaps no one has encapsulated their spirit more so than 33-year-old Kellock, who will hang up his boots at the end of the season and won the Chairman's Award for outstanding service to the development of Scottish rugby.
He has just led the Warriors to their maiden first-place regular season finish in the GUINNESS PRO12 - but that only begins to tell the lock's story.
Kellock initially joined the club in 2006 and more than 100 league appearances later, Townsend admits there has been no better ambassador for Glasgow.
"He has been invaluable. Five out of six seasons we have made semi finals and Al has been captain for all of them," said Townsend.
"He has driven a lot of the improvements the club has made culturally while being a very, very good player in his own right.
"There is more to that in the way he prepares the team, the way he talks, the support he gives the coaching group. He has been passionate about the club and cares a lot about it.
"If you have somebody in a position of leadership with all those attributes then you are very fortunate and I have been really fortunate to have him."
Follow us on Facebook, join the conversation on Twitter, sign up to our YouTube channel for extensive match highlights and sign up for our newsletter for regular updates on the GUINNESS PRO12
63x46.png){kind=logo}