Mike Flynn (footballer)
Encyclopedia
Michael Anthony "Mike" Flynn (born 23 February 1969 in Oldham
, Lancashire
) is an English footballer who made more than 650 appearances in the Football League
playing for Oldham Athletic, Preston North End
, Stockport County
, Stoke City
, Barnsley
and Blackpool
. Since 2009 he has played for Salford City
.
Flynn was attracting attention from some of the bigger clubs and in December 1988 at the age of 19, and after playing 44 games and scoring one goal he signed for First Division
(then the top flight in England) club Norwich City
for a fee of £100,000.
club Preston North End
tabled a bid of £125,000 which Norwich accepted enabling Flynn to return to his native north-west of England. His time at Preston was, however, a difficult one for although his performances were generally good the club were struggling with some of their better players being sold to boost the club coffers. In his time at Deepdale
they sold Tony Ellis
, Warren Joyce
, Alan Kelly, Martin James
, Brian Mooney
and Mark Patterson. It therefore came as no surprise when Flynn himself was sold to Stockport County
in March 1993 for a fee of £125,000. In Flynn's three-and-a-half years at Preston he had played 162 games scoring eight goals.
started a ten year spell with the club. He won the supporters' Player of the year award
in the 1993–94 season. Flynn helped the club to the Second Division play-off final at Wembley where they lost to north west rivals Burnley
. The following season saw Flynn given the captains armband and in the 1996–97 season captained the side to promotion to the First Division (by then the second tier of English football) as well as to the semi-final of the League Cup
, round four of the FA Cup
and the Autoglass Trophy
northern final. Flynn was an ever present that season playing a total of 66 games.
Flynn's performances had not gone unnoticed and when an £800,000 bid from Birmingham City
was rejected by County in February 1999 Flynn was somewhat unhappy. He did though sort things out with County and later on in the year signed a new contract with the club. During the 2001–02 season County began to struggle and when manager Andy Kilner
was sacked, it was thought that Flynn might be in the running for the job. It wasn't to be though as just before Christmas 2001 Carlton Palmer
was given the job and Flynn was weeks later loaned out to Stoke City
. In Flynn's two months at the Britannia Stadium
he played thirteen games. Shortly after the loan was extended into a third month, Flynn left to join Steve Parkin
's Barnsley
of the First Division; Stockport gave him a free transfer and promised him a testimonial match
, despite his having been with the club for less than the customary ten years. In all Flynn played 460 games for "the Hatters", scoring 19 goals.
he played just 21 games before in January 2003 returning to the North West with Blackpool
, initially on loan and then permanently in March of the same year. Flynn's committed performances made him a favourite at Bloomfield Road
and he played more than 50 games for the club, taking his League career tally to 654 games played and 25 goals scored.
, and was with the club when they were crowned champions of the Conference National
in the 2005–06 season. He played 45 games for Accrington before leaving for Conference North
club Hyde United in November 2005 and then in December 2006 Stalybridge Celtic
. In 2007 Flynn signed for Northern Premier League Division One North
club Radcliffe Borough
, moving to divisional rivals Salford City
in January 2009, where he became assistant manager as well as player.
with Accrington Stanley
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
) is an English footballer who made more than 650 appearances in the Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
playing for Oldham Athletic, Preston North End
Preston North End F.C.
Preston North End Football Club is an English professional football club located in the Deepdale area of the city of Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the third tier of English league football, League One...
, Stockport County
Stockport County F.C.
Stockport County Football Club is an English football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester. The club formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, shortly afterwards merging with Heaton Norris F.C., and adopted the current name on 24 May 1890 on the creation of the County Borough of Stockport...
, Stoke City
Stoke City F.C.
Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...
, Barnsley
Barnsley F.C.
Barnsley Football Club are a professional English football club based in the town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Nicknamed the Tykes, they were founded in 1887 under the name Barnsley St. Peter's...
and Blackpool
Blackpool F.C.
Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...
. Since 2009 he has played for Salford City
Salford City F.C.
Salford City F.C. are a semi-professional football club based in the Kersal area of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. They are the only semi-professional side in the City of Salford, with Manchester United the closest league club. Salford City currently play in the Northern Premier League...
.
Oldham Athletic
Flynn began his career with his hometown club Oldham Athletic first signing apprentice forms in July 1985 before turning professional in February 1987. He made an immediate impact with the "Latics" going straight into the first team and earning a reputation as a no nonsense centre half. Playing in the Second DivisionFootball League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
Flynn was attracting attention from some of the bigger clubs and in December 1988 at the age of 19, and after playing 44 games and scoring one goal he signed for First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
(then the top flight in England) club Norwich City
Norwich City F.C.
Norwich City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. As of the 2011–12 season, Norwich City are again playing in the Premier League after a six-year absence, having finished as runner up in the Championship in 2010–11 and winning automatic promotion.The...
for a fee of £100,000.
Norwich and Preston
Flynn's time at Norwich was for him a frustrating one though for in his twelve months with the club he failed to make a single appearance. In December 1989 Third DivisionFootball League Third Division
The Football League Third Division was the 3 tier of English Football from 1920 until 1992 when after the formation of the Football Association Premier League saw the league renamed The Football League Division Two...
club Preston North End
Preston North End F.C.
Preston North End Football Club is an English professional football club located in the Deepdale area of the city of Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the third tier of English league football, League One...
tabled a bid of £125,000 which Norwich accepted enabling Flynn to return to his native north-west of England. His time at Preston was, however, a difficult one for although his performances were generally good the club were struggling with some of their better players being sold to boost the club coffers. In his time at Deepdale
Deepdale
Deepdale is a stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England, the home of Preston North End F.C. and, up to 2010, England's National Football Museum. Preston North End are one of the founder members of the Football League.- History :...
they sold Tony Ellis
Tony Ellis
Anthony Joseph "Tony" Ellis is an English former professional footballer who commanded combined transfer fees of nearly £750,000 and scored 185 league goals in 518 league games during a sixteen-year Football League career....
, Warren Joyce
Warren Joyce
Warren Garton Joyce is a former footballer who played in The Football League, and now works as a coach.-Early life at Bolton:...
, Alan Kelly, Martin James
Martin James
Martin James is an English former professional football player.-Preston North End:Martin joined Preston as an apprentice in July 1987, turning pro two years later. He was, along with Lee Cartwright, Lee Ashcroft and Adrian Hughes, a product of the Preston North End youth system of the late 1980s...
, Brian Mooney
Brian Mooney
Brian Mooney, is an Irish former footballer who made his name as a skilful winger in the English football league. Born in Dublin, Ireland, Mooney was spotted in 1983 by Liverpool F.C. playing for Irish schoolboy club Home Farm F.C. where he had won a FAI Youth Cup. He went to school at St. Josephs...
and Mark Patterson. It therefore came as no surprise when Flynn himself was sold to Stockport County
Stockport County F.C.
Stockport County Football Club is an English football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester. The club formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, shortly afterwards merging with Heaton Norris F.C., and adopted the current name on 24 May 1890 on the creation of the County Borough of Stockport...
in March 1993 for a fee of £125,000. In Flynn's three-and-a-half years at Preston he had played 162 games scoring eight goals.
Stockport County
Flynn's move to Edgeley ParkEdgeley Park
Edgeley Park is an association football and rugby union stadium in Stockport, England. The stadium was initially built for the rugby league club Stockport in 1901, but by 1902, the rugby club was defunct and in the same year, Stockport County Football Club, who were looking for a bigger ground,...
started a ten year spell with the club. He won the supporters' Player of the year award
Player of the year award
Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year. In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award...
in the 1993–94 season. Flynn helped the club to the Second Division play-off final at Wembley where they lost to north west rivals Burnley
Burnley F.C.
Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...
. The following season saw Flynn given the captains armband and in the 1996–97 season captained the side to promotion to the First Division (by then the second tier of English football) as well as to the semi-final of the League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
, round four of the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
and the Autoglass Trophy
Football League Trophy
The Football League Trophy, currently known as the Johnstone's Paint Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football knock-out competition open to the 48 clubs in Football League One and Football League Two, the bottom two divisions in the four fully professional top...
northern final. Flynn was an ever present that season playing a total of 66 games.
Flynn's performances had not gone unnoticed and when an £800,000 bid from Birmingham City
Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...
was rejected by County in February 1999 Flynn was somewhat unhappy. He did though sort things out with County and later on in the year signed a new contract with the club. During the 2001–02 season County began to struggle and when manager Andy Kilner
Andy Kilner
Andy Kilner is a former manager of Stockport County.He was appointed the youngest manager in the country at the age of just 32 having played in the glory days of Stockport County under Danny Bergara,reaching the playoff finals twice and gaining promotion,Kilner was a fans favourite with his...
was sacked, it was thought that Flynn might be in the running for the job. It wasn't to be though as just before Christmas 2001 Carlton Palmer
Carlton Palmer
Carlton Lloyd Palmer is a former English professional football player who played as a midfielder, most notably for Sheffield Wednesday.-Playing career:...
was given the job and Flynn was weeks later loaned out to Stoke City
Stoke City F.C.
Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...
. In Flynn's two months at the Britannia Stadium
Britannia Stadium
The Britannia Stadium is an all-seater football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England and the home of Premier League club Stoke City Football Club. With space for 27,598 spectators . The name is taken from the sponsors of the Stadium the Britannia Co-operative Bank...
he played thirteen games. Shortly after the loan was extended into a third month, Flynn left to join Steve Parkin
Steve Parkin
Stephen John "Steve" Parkin is an English former footballer and manager, currently working as assistant manager at Bradford City.-Mansfield Town:...
's Barnsley
Barnsley F.C.
Barnsley Football Club are a professional English football club based in the town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Nicknamed the Tykes, they were founded in 1887 under the name Barnsley St. Peter's...
of the First Division; Stockport gave him a free transfer and promised him a testimonial match
Testimonial match
A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, notably football and especially in the United Kingdom, where a club puts on a match in honour of a player for service to the club....
, despite his having been with the club for less than the customary ten years. In all Flynn played 460 games for "the Hatters", scoring 19 goals.
Barnsley and Blackpool
In little over a year at OakwellOakwell Stadium
Oakwell is a multi-purpose sports development in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England used primarily by Barnsley Football Club for playing their home fixtures, and those of their reserves....
he played just 21 games before in January 2003 returning to the North West with Blackpool
Blackpool F.C.
Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...
, initially on loan and then permanently in March of the same year. Flynn's committed performances made him a favourite at Bloomfield Road
Bloomfield Road
Bloomfield Road is an all-seater football stadium in the English town of Blackpool, Lancashire. It has been the permanent home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901 and is named after the road on which the stadium's main entrance used to stand. The stadium has been in a process of redevelopment since 2000...
and he played more than 50 games for the club, taking his League career tally to 654 games played and 25 goals scored.
Into non-league football with Accrington Stanley
In September 2004 Flynn signed an 18-month contract with Accrington StanleyAccrington Stanley F.C.
Accrington Stanley is an English association football club from Accrington in Lancashire, in the North West of England, who play in Football League Two, the fourth-highest division in the English football league system....
, and was with the club when they were crowned champions of the Conference National
Conference National
Conference National is the top division of the Football Conference in England. It is the highest level of the National League System and fifth highest of the overall English football league system...
in the 2005–06 season. He played 45 games for Accrington before leaving for Conference North
Conference North
The Conference North also known as Blue Square Bet North for sponsorship reasons, is a division of the Football Conference in England, taking its place immediately below the Conference National. Along with Conference South it is at Step 2 of the National League System and the sixth overall tier of...
club Hyde United in November 2005 and then in December 2006 Stalybridge Celtic
Stalybridge Celtic F.C.
Stalybridge Celtic are an English full time professional football club from Stalybridge, Greater Manchester in North West England. The club, which plays its home matches at Bower Fold, is currently in the Conference North in the sixth tier of the English football league system...
. In 2007 Flynn signed for Northern Premier League Division One North
Northern Premier League Division One North
Division One North is one of the two second-tier divisions of the Northern Premier League. It is at tier 4 of the National League System, tier 8 of the English football league system...
club Radcliffe Borough
Radcliffe Borough F.C.
Radcliffe Borough F.C. is an English football club based in Radcliffe, Greater Manchester. The club was formed on 24 April 1949 and currently plays in the Northern Premier League Division One North...
, moving to divisional rivals Salford City
Salford City F.C.
Salford City F.C. are a semi-professional football club based in the Kersal area of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. They are the only semi-professional side in the City of Salford, with Manchester United the closest league club. Salford City currently play in the Northern Premier League...
in January 2009, where he became assistant manager as well as player.
Honours
with Stockport County- Division TwoFootball League Second DivisionFrom 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
runners-up: 1996-97
with Accrington Stanley
- Conference NationalConference NationalConference National is the top division of the Football Conference in England. It is the highest level of the National League System and fifth highest of the overall English football league system...
champions: 2005–06