| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Brian Flynn | ||
| Date of birth | 12 October 1955 | ||
| Place of birth | Port Talbot, Wales | ||
| Height | 1.61 m (5 ft 3 1⁄2 in)[1] | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1972–1977 | Burnley | 120 | (8) |
| 1977–1982 | Leeds United | 154 | (11) |
| 1982 | → Burnley (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| 1982–1984 | Burnley | 80 | (11) |
| 1984–1985 | Cardiff City | 32 | (0) |
| 1985–1986 | Doncaster Rovers | 27 | (0) |
| 1986–1987 | Bury | 19 | (0) |
| 1987–1988 | Doncaster Rovers | 24 | (1) |
| 1988–1993 | Wrexham | 100 | (5) |
| National team | |||
| 1975–1984 | Wales | 66 | (7) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1989–2001 | Wrexham | ||
| 2002–2004 | Swansea City | ||
| 2004– | Wales U-21 | ||
| 2010 | Wales (caretaker) | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
|||
Brian Flynn, (born 12 October 1955 in Port Talbot) is a Welsh football manager and former Welsh international player.
On 13 September 2010 Flynn was confirmed caretaker manager of the Wales national football team after John Toshack stepped down. Flynn previously managed the Wales national under-21 football team, coming close to taking Wales to their first major championship in 57 years.
Flynn started his career with Burnley, and made his league debut for them in the 1973–74 season, when they were in the old First Division. After 120 league appearances he transferred to Leeds United 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.[2]
Flynn later played for Doncaster Rovers, Bury and Wrexham.[3] He made his final Football League appearances in the 1992–93 season whilst with Wrexham, with his final game coming on 3 November 1992 against Scunthorpe United.[4]
He earned 66 full Welsh caps between 1975 and 1984, scoring 7 goals.[3]
After a brief spell as assistant at Holywell Town, he was given the Wrexham manager's job in December 1989 and held it for the next 12 years, establishing a long-running managerial team with Kevin Reeves and Joey Jones.
During 1991–92, Wrexham improved dramatically. They finished well up the table and achieved a shock win over defending league champions Arsenal in the Third Round of the FA Cup. More success came in 1992–93 when Wrexham finished runners-up in the new Division Three and won promotion to Division Two. A run to the FA Cup quarter finals followed in 1996–97, but the Welsh Dragons never mounted a serious challenge for promotion to Division One and by the time Flynn's reign ended in October 2001 they were heading for relegation.
A year after leaving Wrexham, Flynn made his comeback to the game by accepting the manager's job at Swansea City. The Swans were bottom of the league for much of the 2002–03 season and also on the verge of going out of business completely, just over 20 years after they had finished sixth in the old First Division. But Flynn turned the club around and victory on the final day of the season ensured their safety. Flynn left Swansea City midway through the 2003–04 season.
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 and Romania, 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.
With the departure of John Toshack as Wales manager after six years being announced on 9 September 2010, Flynn emerged as the favourite to succeed Toshack as national coach. On 13 September 2010 Flynn was confirmed as the Wales caretaker manager.[5][6]
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||