Brian Flynn has a little chuckle to himself when he thinks of Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey heading to the World Cup.
Plus, for that matter, Joe Allen, Wayne Hennessey, Chris Gunter, and a plethora of others who he watched march to those Euro semi-finals six years ago, having first brought them through as teenagers in his role as Wales youth guru.
"I keep telling them, 'I know too many secrets about you lot, so you'd better stay nice to me'!" he laughs.
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Flynnie does too. Not that he'd blab, mind. Not his style.
Fair to say that little Brian, just turned 67, is one of football's genuine nice guys. He may not be the type to shout it from the rooftops, but the impact this pocket rocket of a man has had on the Welsh game has been truly gigantic.
Were it not for him and John Toshack spotting, developing and giving a chance to youth a decade and a half back, the golden era for Wales that we're currently loving so much may probably never have happened.
As manager of Wrexham for 12 years, he gave the Red Dragons some of their most halcyon days. Promotion to League One, three close pushes for the Championship, wonder FA Cup runs. He helped make Wrexham FC so likeable, too, on and off the pitch.
He rescued Swansea from going out of the Football League. Not so far back, either. Were it not for Flynnie, again the Premier League years for the Swans would probably never have happened. Looking at the experiences of Newport County and Wrexham, the Swans too might have had years in the wilderness.
Flynn, as you can see, directly shaped Welsh football in almost unquantifiable ways - and he wasn't a bad little player himself, either.
Where do we start with his incredible story?
Perhaps with his full Wales debut. The Home Internationals against Scotland, a packed Ninian Park in 1975, and a 19-year-old Flynn marks the occasion with arguably the most beautifully crafted goal in Welsh football history.
For the more modern generation, it's worth pointing out Wales are not just about Gareth Bale wonder strikes and Hal Robson-Kanu Cruyff-like turns.
This was one-touch football at its best, two classic one-twos which carved open the Scots' defence, before Flynn's calm finish. If you haven't seen it, google 'Brian Flynn great goal v Scotland' and watch for yourself on YouTube.
When I put it to Brian Welsh fans still talk about that goal almost 50 years on he responds: "You sound surprised Paul."
"Why shouldn't they? It was that good," he laughs. "It’s a while ago, but I keep reminding people it was not far off a masterpiece!
"Joking aside, I suppose it was just off the cuff. Tosh's weight of the final pass was perfect for me to run onto and I couldn’t miss really.
"What made it even more special was it was also my first goal in senior football, I hadn't even scored at club level then.
"I'd had two substitute appearances for Wales before that. The first was at home to Luxembourg. We were a few goals up when our manager Mike Smith told me 'You're going on for Mike England'. The Welsh fans didn't know who I was back then, they must have thought, 'Crikey, he's small for a centre-half!'
"But Mike had spotted Luxembourg only had one striker, he was quite ahead of the game in terms of tactical acumen, and this was one of the first examples of three at the back, used by so many managers these days. Off came Mike England, on I went, that was the start of everything really."
In total Flynn won 66 Wales caps, came agonisingly close to qualifying for major tournaments, and scored seven goals for his country.
"The high spots were my debut, that Scotland goal, captaining the team against England at the Wembley - not many have done that."
Oh, he also points out somewhat matter of fact, "and scoring against Brazil - with a header, too, believe it or not."
Something Flynnie used to love telling Bale, Ramsey, Allen and Co when they first burst through with Wales.
"I used to set them up," says Flynn mischievously. "Do you know how many people have scored for Wales against Brazil in the modern era?
"Myself and Dean Saunders was the answer. And only one of us scored with a header!"
That goal also came at Ninian Park, and versus a star-studded Brazil team, as Wales drew 1-1. Socrates, Careca, Eder, Jorginho. Each of World Cup fame.
Anyway, let's rewind further with Flynn because his football story, from start to modern day, is a compelling one. He grew up in Port Talbot, had trials with Cardiff City, who he would eventually go on to play for in the mid-1980s, Arsenal, Chelsea and Leeds, before settling upon Burnley, who were renowned at the time for giving youngsters a chance.
"I loved football, Alan Ball was my early idol, but in school we had to play rugby," he reflects. "An area like Port Talbot was true Welsh rugby territory, I guess.
"I actually liked rugby, played scrum-half, and they tell me I was quite decent. But I wanted to play sport for Wales - and, come on, who on earth was going to replace Gareth Edwards in that team? Certainly not me.
"Mind, I do think those early days in rugby really helped me when I became a professional footballer. It was such a tough, physical game you learned how to avoid unsavoury tackles. I guess that started to apply to me in football, too.
"I agreed to join Cardiff as a 13-year-old, but found out they hadn't registered my forms, had stuck them away in a top drawer. Mine and the forms of quite a few others. I'm told. So at 15 I moved away from home to Burnley and I'm still up here today these many years on."
As Flynn says it was Alan Ball, England's 1966 World Cup winner, who helped drive his desire to make the grade in football. They were such similar players; non-stop energy, up and down the pitch, tigerish tackling for men of their stature, beautiful passing skills and able to weigh in with crucial goals every so often.
"He was such a great player, everywhere on the pitch influencing matches," says Flynn. "Then, believe it or not, my debut came against him - Arsenal v Burnley, at the old Highbury. We drew 2-2. Wow, I was hooked."
After five years at Turf Moor, Flynn moved to Leeds in 1977 where he made more than 150 appearances for the Elland Road giants. He had further spells with Burnley again, Cardiff and Doncaster, before switching to Wrexham in 1988 where he soon became manager, too.
"I guess the downside of my football career is that I never won a medal as a player. At Leeds it was the start of the transition after Don Revie and Brian Clough. We finished third, third, fourth and third in the league - but that wasn't good enough for Leeds back then," reflects Flynn.
"There were so many upsides to my career though. I'd have to say managing those Wales youngsters, seeing what they've gone on to achieve since, has to be the single biggest thing."
Talk of a move into management actually started out of the blue when Flynn was still in his mid-20s and had just played against the old USSR in Tbilisi in a World Cup qualifier. On the plane journey home, he found himself sitting next to Pryce Griffiths, the old Wrexham chairman and another great guy, who sat on the FA of Wales ruling council.
"There were 100,000 inside the ground that day. When Russia had the ball you couldn't hear yourself think - when we had it there was total silence. It was eerie looking back," recalls Flynn. "But I also vividly remember the trip for what happened on the plane back. Pryce and myself were chatting about football, he must have liked something I said, because he told me that was when he decided I could be Wrexham's next manager.
"Back then I was still playing, it was unheard of to have such a young manager, but Pryce was to give me a chance and we had a wonderful 12 years as a club."
Under Flynn, Wrexham avoided relegation out of the Football League, then won promotion to what is League One today, having just been edged out of top spot by Eddie May's iconic Cardiff City Class of 1992-93.
"It was a bugbear of mine we couldn't beat Cardiff - but I didn't often lose to them in our cup matches," smiles Flynn.
There followed strong pushes for the play-offs and a tilt at the Championship, while those incredible FA Cup runs were part of the journey.
"I was so fortunate to have such a patient chairman in Pryce," says Flynn. "At the start we finished 92nd, but for some reason they didn't have re-election, or relegation out of the league, that season, so we stayed up. It kicked off from there."
Next up were Swansea City, who are also indebted to Flynn, given what they subsequently went on to achieve with those Premier League years.
It's May 2003, the final day of the League Two season - and the Swans are on the brink of becoming a non-league side. Flynn masterminds a 4-2 triumph over Hull, James Thomas bags a hat-trick, and instead it is Exeter who are relegated to the Conference.
Who knows where Swansea would be today were it not for that win, acknowledges Flynn? "Newport County were out of the league for 25 years, Wrexham have been out for 14. They're proof it's not always easy to come back up," he points out.
"Actually there's a little story here. Huw Jenkins, then the chairman, asked me to meet him in Manchester about becoming their manager. I wanted Kevin Reeves, my old Wrexham No.2, to come with me, but Huw said no.
"A few months on, Swansea were struggling, I got another call and this time time it was agreed Kevin could join me. I remember telling Huw we needed to get 10 players out and 10 new ones in. He was prepared to do it that day! Huw was incredibly supportive, realised the rebuild that was required.
"As it is we did it in little dribs and drabs. Roberto Martinez was the final piece of the jigsaw. Look at what he, and indeed Swansea, have gone on to achieve since."
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Within weeks of leaving the Swans in 2004, Flynn found himself a wanted man again - this time in a different role as Toshack's youth guru with Wales.
The pair had inherited something of a mess when Toshack took over. An ageing team that had gone two years without a competitive win, senior players who felt it was time to retire.
There was only one way forward - the youth revolution that witnessed the startling emergence of the new crop of players who have subsequently brought Wales their greatest days.
"When I see what these players have gone on to achieve, reaching major finals and going on to win 100 caps, I feel more rewarded today than perhaps I appreciated back then," says Flynn.
"At the time I was flat out, running the under-17s, 19s and 21s. Tosh told me it was the same principle as running a club - first team, reserves, youth side - but I was actually managing the three of them.
"But one by one we spotted these players and gave them their chance. I used to tell them, 'If I don't get you in the first team as a teenager, I will be out of work!' Fortunately they were good enough. Tosh worked on the adage if you're good enough, you're old enough, had the foresight to put them in.
"He said, 'Brian, we're going to have a car crash from time to time'. By that he meant bad results, the inconsistency of youth. 'But once they get to 40 caps they'll keep qualifying', he was adamant. That's how it has played out, too."
So, ahead of the World Cup, a couple of behind the scenes tales about the real stellar talents.
Firstly Gareth Bale.
"I'd asked the FAW to arrange a training camp for the under-17s at BP Llandarcy," says Flynn. "28 players, I knew most of them through the Welsh Schools set-up, although Gareth, by his own admission, wasn't good enough at the time for the under-15s team. He was 5ft 5in back then and suddenly shot up to 5ft 11.
"As soon as I saw him that day in training, I knew he was going to be the real deal. Alan Curtis was with me. The first thing Curt said was, 'Who's that over there?'
"I replied, 'That's Gareth Bale, a left-back at Southampton. Only no way is he a left-back. First chance we get we're playing him as a striker'.
"That's what we did. Gareth, for me, is the greatest football export from Britain, let alone Wales, given what he achieved with Real Madrid. People tell me John Charles, I can't argue because I never saw him play, but I've never seen anyone better than Gareth. Gazza, Gary Lineker and others had their moments abroad, but none achieved what Gareth managed to. He was always going to be a superstar, I had not the slightest doubt."
Flynn had the same feeling with Aaron Ramsey, who burst through a couple of years on.
The other night they showed on TV a wonder goal he struck for Flynn's Wales under-21s in a European Championship play-off against England at Villa Park. It was a bullet shot from 30 yards, flew right into the top corner of England's net. Five minutes or so on, Ramsey displayed sublime vision to set up another Welsh goal and give Stuart Pearce's team an enormous fright.
England eventually drew 2-2, thus going through 5-4 on aggregate after narrowly winning the first leg in Cardiff, but Ramsey had emerged as the real deal.
Shortly after Ramsey's deeds in putting Wales 2-1 up, England boss Pearce appeared to make a 31st-minute tactical substitution by taking off Lee Cattermole and sending on Fabrice Muamba.
Flynn asked Pearce about it afterwards and says he was told it was because the England midfield weren't following orders in stopping Ramsey.
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"Muamba man-marked him for the rest of the game, followed Aaron everywhere," says Flynn. "Even into our dressing room at half-time!"
Flynn continues: "I thought up the No.10 role for Aaron, just behind the strikers, because I just felt it suited him perfectly. He could dictate the play from there, create and score goals - in any case, I had so many good midfield players I had to fit him in somewhere!"
What Bale, Ramsey, Joe Allen and the rest have done, of course, has already gone into Welsh football folklore. There were other Flynn finds who didn't quite make it - Jack Collison, so cruelly struck by injuries, Lewin Nyatanga, who never quite fulfilled the early promise his manager had for him.
At one point Flynn raved about Nyatanga as highly as he did Bale and Ramsey, thought he would become a superstar. But hey, two out of three isn't bad. It should perhaps be pointed out, mind, that Nyatanga did play 34 times for Wales and become the youngest player to represent his country.
There were a host of other Flynn finds who did go on to help Wales achieve their stunning Euro 2016. Never before has a group of so many young players come through together at one time to achieve so much success for Wales. They certainly owed their early breaks to Flynn and Toshack.
The next step for what are Wales' more senior stars these days is the World Cup in Qatar.
Flynn's wish?
"That they perform well on the biggest stage of the lot and achieve even more with Wales. Which I'm sure they will," he replies.
Ahead of the big kick-off in Qatar, an entire nation will concur with that.
Oh, and by the way, stay nice to Brian, chaps. He knows the secrets!
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