Ups/Downs at Newport County
Only nine days later the joy and achievement of promotion was equalled in the success of winning the Welsh Cup for the first time in Newport’s history, when over two legs we wiped the floor with Third Division Shrewsbury Town 5-1 on aggregate.
In doing so we quite incredibly qualified for the European Cup Winners’ Cup for the 1980/81 season. I took the Welsh Cup to my Monmouth home and stood it on my dining room table and it became the centrepiece for numerous celebrations.
Loyalty, however, brooks no argument where football is concerned. I was sacked by Newport County on 8 February 1982, once again at 11am. I had been given the kind of ultimatum by the board which made me realise my time was up at Newport.
Sack your number two or your Testimonial is off – that was the stark message delivered to me on a Sunday morning in November.