Flynn hopes Newport won't need another Great Escape

Mike Flynn gazes out of his office window towards the stadium across the river where he endured one of the most stressful, but ultimately most enjoyable, days of his life.

Rodney Parade, scene of Newport County's famous 'Great Escape' from relegation in 2017.

There's no escape from the memories when your new place of work is little more than a long goal-kick away.

Not that he ever wants to forget about it.

"It was one of the best days of my life... the hairs on the back of my neck are standing up now just thinking about it," says Flynn of the time he kept his hometown club in the Football League with a last-gasp 2-1 win over Notts County on the final day of the 2016-17 campaign.

Nine years on, Flynn is anxiously watching on as a fan, having left the world of football for a new job in media and marketing in the Newport office of CDM Media, his city centre base just across the River Usk within spying distance of his old club.

Christian Fuchs' team are two points above the relegation zone after Saturday's crucial 1-0 win over Shrewsbury Town and, with six games to go, Flynn hopes there will be no need for a repeat of his final-day rescue act.

"I hope Christian can keep them up because there will be a big after-effect if things go wrong," said the 45-year-old, who was born in the city and played for County before managing them from 2017 to 2021.

"My son is in the academy at Newport and if we go down... that could go. That would be catastrophic in terms of how we're going to bring young players through.

"I think football in the city will drop. It would hit hospitality around match days. It's going to leave a bad aftertaste.

"If they go down, I think it could be a long, long road back.If they get back."

Flynn, though, is optimistic about their survival hopes. After all, they're not 11 points adrift of safety as his 2017 side were after he accepted what looked an impossible survival mission by replacing the sacked Graham Westley as boss.

Remarkably, Flynn dragged County to the brink of safety, winning his first two games in charge - and six of his opening 11 - to give them a shot at survival in that final-day meeting with Notts County.

And then the most excruciating drama at Rodney Parade. Newport, needing to match or better Hartlepool's result, were being held 1-1 by Notts County while their relegation rivals were 2-1 up.

With the Exiles back in the bottom two and minutes away from dropping into non-league football, defender Mark O'Brien wrote himself into County folklore by netting an 89th-minute winner to keep them in League Two.

Cue bedlam at Rodney Parade.

"Before that goal went in, with all the hard work that had gone in behind the scenes, I'm thinking 'these supporters don't deserve this'," said Flynn with relegation staring them in the face.

"But Mark comes up with that moment of magic, then the pitch invasion at the end, my wife on the pitch, my son Edward on my shoulders, seeing grown men crying... it's made me fill up many a time.

"It turned out to be one of the best days of my life. Unbelievable. I'll never forget it."

Though Flynn went on to twice take Newport to the League Two play-off final, in 2019 and 2021, recent seasons have been more about survival battles than promotion campaigns.

This season's struggle is by far the worst, County only recently emerging from a 25-game run stuck inside the bottom two after Fuchs replaced David Hughes as boss.

"It's been close a few years, hasn't it," said Flynn. "I don't want to point fingers or be a know-it-all because I've made mistakes, but I don't think recruitment's been fair to any of the managers, they've just not had enough experienced players.

"But I want to be positive about it. We've got to give them our support and hope [relegation] doesn't happen.

"I think they need three more wins, and it looks like it's going to be a very low points total for survival.

"If they do stay up, hopefully when they do stay up, they learn from this and we're not in this position for the foreseeable future."

Having also managed at Walsall and Swindon Town, Flynn says he hasn't closed the door on his football career, but for now he's swapping the changing room for the boardroom as he puts his academic qualifications - a degree in Sports Journalism and Media Law, a diploma in Business and Leadership Management and a postgraduate qualification in Strategic Leadership - to good use.

"CDM Media is a worldwide company, so I'm dealing with some big, big companies around the world," he said.

"We're bringing people together - chief revenue officers, chief marketing officers - and I'm the general manager and director of operations.

"It's the first time I've been out of the football bubble, but I'm not saying I'm done with football. Anybody who's been in it as long as I have, you're never done with it."

Never done with County either. Not when it's in your blood. Not when another Great Escape may yet be needed if results take a turn for the worse.

"I won't quite stretch to going to Barrow on the final day of the season - I never wanted to go there as a manager," quipped Flynn.

"But I'll hopefully be there for the last couple of home games. Cheering the club on. Wishing them the very best."