The wonderful football tales of Brian Flynn
The little pocket rocket has had a gigantic impact on the Welsh game, as head of sport Paul Abbandonato reports...
BRIAN Flynn has a little chuckle to himself when he thinks of Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey heading to the World Cup. Plus, for that matter, Joe Allen, Wayne Hennessey, Chris Gunter and a plethora of others who he watched march to those Euro semi-finals six years ago, having first brought them through as teenagers in his role as Wales’ youth guru.
“I keep telling them, ‘I know too many secrets about you lot, so you’d better stay nice to me!’” he laughs. Flynnie does too. Not that he’d blab, mind. Not his style.
Fair to say that little Brian, just turned 67, is one of football’s genuine nice guys. He may not be the type to shout it from the rooftops, but the impact this pocket rocket of a man has had on the Welsh game has been truly gigantic.
Were it not for him and John Toshack spotting, developing and giving a chance to youth a decade and a half back, the golden era for Wales that we’re currently loving so much may probably never have happened.
As manager of Wrexham for 12 years, he gave the Red Dragons some of their most halcyon days. Promotion to League One, three close pushes for the Championship, wonder FA Cup runs. He helped make Wrexham FC so likeable, too, on and off the pitch.
He rescued Swansea from going out of the Football League. Not so far back, either. Were it not for Flynnie, again the Premier League years for the Swans would probably never have happened. Looking at the experiences of Newport County and Wrexham, the Swans too might have had years in the wilderness.
Flynn, as you can see, directly shaped Welsh football in almost unquantifiable ways – and he wasn’t a bad little player himself, either. Where do we start with his incredible story? Perhaps with his full Wales debut. The Home Internationals against Scotland, a packed Ninian
Park in 1975 and a 19-year-old Flynn marks the occasion with arguably the most beautifullycrafted goal in Welsh football history.
For the more modern generation, it’s worth pointing out Wales are not just about Gareth Bale wonder strikes and Hal Robson-kanu Cruyff-like turns. This was one-touch football at its best, two classic one-twos which carved open the Scots’ defence, before Flynn’s calm finish. If you haven’t seen it, google ‘Brian Flynn great goal v Scotland’ and watch for yourself on Youtube.
When I put it to Brian Welsh fans still talk about that goal almost 50 years on, he responds: “You sound surprised Paul.
“Why shouldn’t they? It was that good,” he laughs. “It’s a while ago, but I keep reminding people it was not far off a masterpiece!
“Joking aside, I suppose it was just off the cuff. Tosh’s weight of the final pass was perfect for me to run onto and I couldn’t miss really. What made it even more special was it was also my first goal in senior football, I hadn’t even scored at club level then.
“I’d had two substitute appearances for Wales before that. The first was at home to Luxembourg. We were a few goals up when our manager Mike Smith told me, ‘You’re going on for Mike England’. The Welsh fans didn’t know who I was back then, they must have thought, ‘Crikey, he’s small for a centre-half!’
“But Mike had spotted Luxembourg only had one striker, he was quite ahead of the game in terms of tactical acumen, and this was one of the first examples of three at the back, used by so many managers these days. Off came Mike England, on I went, that was the start of everything really.”
In total Flynn won 66 Wales caps, came agonisingly close to qualifying for major tournaments and scored seven goals for his country.
“The high spots were my debut, that Scotland goal, captaining the team against England at the Wembley – not many have done that.”
Oh, he also points out somewhat matter of fact, “and scoring against Brazil – with a header, too, believe it or not.”
Something Flynnie used to love telling Bale, Ramsey, Allen and co when they first burst through with Wales.
“I used to set them up,” says Flynn mischievously. “Do you know how many people have scored for Wales against Brazil in the modern era? Myself and Dean Saunders was the answer. And only one of us scored with a header!”
That goal also came at Ninian Park and versus a star-studded Brazil team, as Wales drew 1-1.
Socrates, Careca, Eder, Jorginho. Each of World Cup fame.
Anyway, let’s rewind further with Flynn because his football story, from start to modern day, is a compelling one. He grew up in Port Talbot, had trials with Cardiff City, who he would eventually go on to play for in the mid-1980s, Arsenal, Chelsea and Leeds, before settling upon Burnley, who were renowned at the time for giving youngsters a chance.
“I loved football, Alan Ball was my early idol, but in school we had to play rugby,” he reflects. “An area like Port Talbot was true Welsh rugby territory, I guess.
“I actually liked rugby, played scrum-half and they tell me I was quite decent. But I wanted to play sport for Wales – and, come on, who on earth was going to replace Gareth Edwards in that team? Certainly not me.
“Mind, I do think those early days in rugby really
mid-20s and had just played against the old USSR in Tbilisi in a World Cup qualifier. On the plane journey home, he found himself sitting next to Pryce Griffiths, the old Wrexham chairman and another great guy, who sat on the FA of Wales ruling council.
“There were 100,000 inside the ground that day. When Russia had the ball you couldn’t hear yourself think – when we had it there was total silence. It was eerie looking back,” recalls Flynn. “But I also vividly remember the trip for what happened on the plane back. Pryce and myself were chatting about football, he must have liked something I said, because he told me that was when he decided I could be Wrexham’s next manager.
“Back then I was still playing, it was unheard of to have such a young manager, but Pryce was to give me a chance and we had a wonderful 12 years as a club.”
Under Flynn, Wrexham avoided relegation out of the Football League, then won promotion to what is League One today, having just been edged out of top spot by Eddie May’s iconic Cardiff City Class of 1992-93.
“It was a bugbear of mine we couldn’t beat Cardiff – but I didn’t often lose to them in our cup matches,” smiles Flynn.
There followed strong pushes for the play-offs and a tilt at the Championship, while those incredible FA Cup runs were part of the journey.
“I was so fortunate to have such a patient chairman in Pryce,” says Flynn. “At the start we finished 92nd, but for some reason they didn’t have re-election, or relegation out of the league, that season, so we stayed up. It kicked off from there.”
Next up were Swansea City, who are also indebted to Flynn, given what they subsequently went on to achieve with those Premier League years. It’s May 2003, the final day of the League Two season – and the Swans are on the brink of becoming a non-league side. Flynn masterminds a 4-2 triumph over Hull, James Thomas bags a hat-trick and instead it is Exeter who are relegated to the Conference. Who knows where Swansea would be today were it not for that win, acknowledges Flynn?
“Newport County were out of the league for 25 years, Wrexham have been out for 14. They’re proof it’s not always easy to come back up,” he points out.
“Actually there’s a little story here. Huw Jenkins, then the chairman, asked me to meet him in Manchester about becoming their manager. I wanted Kevin Reeves, my old Wrexham No.2, to come with me, but Huw said no.
“A few months on, Swansea were struggling, I got another call and this time time it was agreed Kevin could join me. I remember telling Huw we needed to get 10 players out and 10 new ones in. He was prepared to do it that day! Huw was incredibly supportive, realised the rebuild that was required.
“As it is we did it in little dribs and drabs. Roberto Martinez was the final piece of the jigsaw. Look at what he, and indeed Swansea, have gone on to achieve since.”
Within weeks of leaving the Swans in 2004, Flynn found himself a wanted man again – this time in a different role as Toshack’s youth guru with Wales. The pair had inherited something of a mess when Toshack took over. An ageing team that had gone two years without a competitive win, senior players who felt it was time to retire.
There was only one way forward – the youth revolution that witnessed the startling emergence of the new crop of players who have subsequently brought Wales their greatest days.
“When I see what these players have gone on to achieve, reaching major finals and going on to win 100 caps, I feel more rewarded today than perhaps I appreciated back then,” says Flynn.
“At the time I was flat out, running the under17s, 19s and 21s. Tosh told me it was the same principle as running a club – first team, reserves, youth side – but I was actually managing the three of them.