Little Wonder is the story of Brian Flynn, the stylish yet tenacious midfielder from Port Talbot who, in the 1970s and 1980s, enjoyed a successful top flight playing career with Burnley and Leeds United - where is still held in great affection by fans of both clubs - before moving on to Cardiff City, Doncaster Rovers, Bury, Limerick and finally to Wrexham as player manager. Flynn also won 66 caps for Wales and played a pivotal role when the rejuvenated national team reached the quarter-finals of the 1976 European Championships and were denied a place at the 1978 World Cup by Joe Jordan's infamous 'hand of god' at Anfield. Lovingly crafted by Leon Barton, Little Wonder is also the story of Flynn's 12 years as a club manager with Wrexham where, with solid team-building and cup heroics, he left a legacy that was subsequently squandered, and his two-year spell at Swansea City when he saved the club from relegation from the Football League and whose immense contribution was subsequently built upon to stunning effect. It is Brian Flynn's managerial legacy to Welsh international football, however, that has won him the plaudits of fellow managers, former teammates, the players themselves, and the Welsh nation when, as intermediate team manager under John Toshack, Flynn identified, nurtured and developed the 'golden generation', a group of talented teenagers and Welsh 'Anglos' who went on to become, at Euro 2016, most successful Welsh team in 140 years. Brian Flynn may only stand at 5 foot and 4 inches, but this small man from the town of steel has made a giant contribution to football and Little Wonder is his story.
Autorentext
Leon Barton is a Wrexham-born writer and a founder member of the Welsh football online broadcaster Podcast Pêl-droed. Previously published by The Guardian, Vice and In Bed With Maradona, Little Wonder is his first book. Leon lives in Innsbruck, Austria with his wife and son.
Inhalt
Foreword by Chris Wathan
Preface by Chris Gunter
Introduction
Part 1: Don't Judge a Book by its Cover
1. Steeltown
2. Milltown
3. Dragon Heart, Claret Blood
4. Hand of Jaws
5. Nuts
6. Journeyman
Part 2: Big Boss Man
7. Milk Money
8. Magic
9. Psycho, Drama
10. Wrecked
11. The Ugly Duckling
Part 3: Children of The Revolution
12. Attitude, Intelligence, Ability
13. The Golden Generation
14. The Boy Who Would Be King
15. The Italian Job
16. The Audition
Afterword: Doncaster
Afterword: Bordeaux
Bibliography