Brian Flynn (born 12 October 1955) is a Welsh former
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
and
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities ...
. As a player, he was a
Welsh international
The Welsh International is an international badminton championship held in Wales since 1928 and is thereby one of the oldest badminton tournaments in the world. The tournament was halted during World War II and until 1956, between 1960 and 1966, a ...
, who played as a
midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
.
Flynn managed the
Wales national under-21 football team
The Wales national under-21 football team, also known as the Wales U21s, is the national under-21 football team of Wales and is controlled by the Football Association of Wales. The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championsh ...
until May 2012, coming close to taking Wales to their first major championship in 57 years. On 13 September 2010, Flynn was confirmed caretaker manager of the
Wales national football team
)
, Association = Football Association of Wales (FAW)
, Confederation = UEFA (Europe)
, Coach = Rob Page
, Captain = Gareth Bale
, Most caps = Gareth Bale (111)
, Top scorer = Gareth ...
after
John Toshack
John Benjamin Toshack (born 22 March 1949) is a Welsh former professional football player and manager.
He began his playing career as a teenager with his hometown club Cardiff City, becoming the youngest player to make an appearance for the ...
stepped down, prior to the appointment of
Gary Speed
Gary Andrew Speed (8 September 1969 – 27 November 2011) was a Welsh professional footballer and manager. As manager of Wales, Speed is often credited as being the catalyst for the change in fortunes of the national team and as setting t ...
.
Playing career
Flynn started his career with
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
, and made his league debut for the club in the
1973–74 season, when it was in the old
First Division. After 120 league appearances he transferred to
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...
in November 1977. He moved back to Burnley in November 1982 (after an earlier brief loan spell) and, after 80 more league games, Flynn moved to
Cardiff City in November 1984.
Later playing for
Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...
,
Bury
Bury may refer to:
*The burial of human remains
*-bury, a suffix in English placenames
Places England
* Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village
* Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire
** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...
,
Limerick City
Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...
and
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
,
Flynn made his final Football League appearances in the
1992–93 season with Wrexham, with his final game coming on 3 November 1992 against
Scunthorpe United.
He earned 66 full
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
caps between 1975 and 1984, scoring 7 goals.
[
]
Management career
Wrexham
He became manager of Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
in 1989, and remained in charge until 2001. During his twelve years in charge Wrexham won the Welsh Cup
The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most ...
three times gaining entry to the Cup Winners Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...
. They achieved notable FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
giant-killing victories over reigning league champions Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
and Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
West Ham United
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
.[ Flynn also led Wrexham to promotion into the second division.] At the time of his departure from Wrexham he was the league
League or The League may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band
* ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football
Sports
* Sports league
* Rugby league, full contact footba ...
's third longest serving manager behind Alex Ferguson
Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time ...
and Dario Gradi
Dario Gradi, MBE (born 8 July 1941) is an Italian-English former amateur football player, coach and manager. He was associated for more than 36 years with Crewe Alexandra, where he was variously manager, director of football and director of t ...
.[
]
Swansea City
He was appointed as Swansea City manager in September 2002, replacing Nick Cusack
Nicholas John Cusack (born 24 December 1965 in Maltby, West Riding of Yorkshire) is an English former footballer and, briefly, player-manager. He was for a time chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA), and is now an Assistan ...
.
Cusack's last game in charge on 18 September 2002 had seen Swansea lose 1–0 away to Boston United
Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...
and move to last place in the Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
for the first time in their history. Flynn's first game on 21 September 2002 was no better for Swansea with them losing 1–0 at home to Torquay United
Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...
. He set about trying to rebuild the side giving debuts to 21 players in his first season[ Their Football League status was only maintained on the last day of the season with them winning 4–2 at home to ]Hull City
Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...
. The following season started well for Swansea and they made the FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
5th round but after a loss of form, Flynn was replaced by Kenny Jackett
Kenneth Francis Jackett (born 5 January 1962) is a former professional football player and manager, who is currently Director of Football at club Gillingham.
A skilful left-footed player, able to play in defence or midfield, Jackett was cappe ...
.
Wales
Flynn joined the Welsh national set-up in 2004 as under-21 coach. His management of the Welsh under-21 side has seen some of the best results in its history. Flynn came agonisingly close to taking the Welsh team to the 2009 UEFA under-21 Championships, guiding the side to the top of a group containing France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
, including a superb away win against the latter. Unfortunately, competition rules stipulated that even group winners had to go through a two-legged play-off round in order to qualify, and Wales were knocked out 5–4 on aggregate against their neighbours, England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
Following the departure of John Toshack
John Benjamin Toshack (born 22 March 1949) is a Welsh former professional football player and manager.
He began his playing career as a teenager with his hometown club Cardiff City, becoming the youngest player to make an appearance for the ...
as Wales manager in September 2010, Flynn was appointed as Wales caretaker manager. He took charge of two games, both defeats. On 8 October 2010 Wales were beaten 1–0 in Cardiff by Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
and on 12 October 2010 they lost 4–1 to Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
at St. Jakob-Park
St. Jakob-Park () is a Swiss sports stadium in Basel. It is the largest football venue in Switzerland and home to FC Basel. "Joggeli", as the venue is nicknamed by the locals, was originally built with a capacity of 33,433 seats. The capacity w ...
in Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
.
Flynn vacated his position with Wales Under 21s in May 2012 at the end of his contract. He was credited with an important role in the development of Gareth Bale
Gareth Frank Bale (born 16 July 1989) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a winger for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC and the Wales national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wingers of his generation ...
, Aaron Ramsey
Aaron James Ramsey (born 26 December 1990) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ligue 1 club Nice and the Wales national team. Ramsey mainly plays as a box-to-box midfielder, but has also been deployed on the left ...
, Joe Allen
Joseph Michael Allen (born 14 March 1990) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL Championship club Swansea City.
Allen began his career at Swansea City, making his first-team debut in January 2007 at age 16. He ...
and Wayne Hennessey
Wayne Robert Hennessey (born 24 January 1987) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Nottingham Forest and the Wales national team.
Hennessey's first professional games saw him set a new Football ...
.
Doncaster Rovers
Having already been working for Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...
as a scout, he was appointed as caretaker manager of the club on 7 January following Dean Saunders
Dean Nicholas Saunders (born 21 June 1964) is a Welsh football manager and former professional footballer.
As a player, he was a striker in a career which lasted from 1982 until 2001. He played for Liverpool and Aston Villa in the 1990s, and s ...
move to Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
. At that point he was assisted by player Rob Jones who had been briefly installed as caretaker earlier that morning. On 17 January Flynn was confirmed as permanent manager with a contract till the end of the season. His first game in permanent charge of Doncaster on 19 January 2013 saw his side win 2–0 against Leyton Orient
Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...
.
On 27 April 2013, Flynn secured promotion with Doncaster, and the League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
title, with a 1–0 win against Brentford
Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross.
Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...
at Griffin Park. Victory for Brentford would have seen them promoted at Doncaster's expense, and they were awarded a penalty-kick in injury-time, but missed and Doncaster scored from the resulting counterattack to earn the victory.
At the end of the season, Flynn expressed a desire to step down as manager and return to a role of developing and recruiting players. Doncaster offered him a senior role in this as well as helping to choose the new manager. For the 2013–14 season he was named as Director of Football
A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...
including overseeing the newly formed ''development squad'' which would be playing competitive games.
Return to Wrexham
On 21 February 2019, Flynn returned to Wrexham as assistant manager to recently appointed manager Bryan Hughes
Bryan Hughes (born 19 June 1976) is an English football manager and former professional footballer.
He played as a midfielder from 1994 to 2015, notably Premier League for Birmingham City, Charlton Athletic and Hull City as well as featuring ...
, who started his playing career at Wrexham under Flynn.
Scouting career
On 1 December 2016 Flynn returned to Swansea City as a scout
Scout may refer to:
Youth movement
*Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement
**Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom
**Scouts BSA, sectio ...
. After Swansea's relegation to the Championship at the end of the 2017–18 season, Flynn and the rest of the scouting team were relieved of their duties.
Managerial statistics
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flynn, Brian
1955 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Port Talbot
Welsh footballers
Welsh expatriate footballers
Wales international footballers
Wales under-23 international footballers
Wales national football team managers
Association football midfielders
English Football League players
Burnley F.C. players
Bury F.C. players
Cardiff City F.C. players
Doncaster Rovers F.C. players
Leeds United F.C. players
Wrexham A.F.C. players
Welsh football managers
Wrexham A.F.C. managers
Swansea City A.F.C. managers
Doncaster Rovers F.C. managers
Wales national football team non-playing staff
English Football League managers
Limerick F.C. players
League of Ireland players
Expatriate association footballers in the Republic of Ireland
British expatriates in Ireland
Wales national under-21 football team managers
Association football scouts