Two football men from the Pillgwenlly area of Newport, near the city’s transporter bridge, clash in the Emirates FA Cup fourth round on Teesside this Saturday.
Manager Michael Flynn’s Newport County travel to play Championship club Middlesbrough where fellow Welshman Tony Pulis is in charge.
Both men are ex-residents of the Pill area and Pulis told BBC Sport Wales: “Pill was a fantastic place to be born and raised in, the community spirit – at the time it was a vibrant area.
“It’s never been a salubrious place to live, but as a community and as an area, I can’t say anything bad about the place.
“I didn’t know anything else. I was born and brought up there and left at 16.
“It gave me all the grounding that I needed in my life to make me determined enough to do the best that I possibly can. That’s what I have done in football.”
Flynn backs up the Pulis view, saying: “Pill is a tough place, a really close community where everybody knew each other and looked out for each other.
“I am glad I grew up there, because the tough parts made you stronger going forward.
⚽️ | Earlier this week, the @FA launched a new special edition @royoftherovers Comic in partnership with the @EmiratesFACup featuring the County’s historic 2-1 victory over @LCFC in the Third Round.
Read more 👉 https://t.co/4qtYPzj8l0 #OurJourneyContinues ⚫️🔶 pic.twitter.com/dus8alfKrN
— Newport County AFC (@NewportCounty) January 25, 2019
“We played on the streets learning life lessons as well, you get knocked down, you get up again.”
Flynn’s Exiles have already been immortalised in a special Roy of the Rovers comic book based on the Exiles’ third round home win against Leicester City.
The County manager described the team performance as ‘Roy of the Rovers type stuff’ and the comic, published in partnership with official Roy of the Rovers publishers Rebellion, features a brand-new storyline and bespoke artwork.
A page has been dedicated to Newport’s win over Leicester, featuring the likes of goalscorer Padraig Amond.
Flynn and Amond joined fans to mark the launch of the comic and supporters can also download the comic online here.
“The Emirates FA Cup has given us a chance to prove ourselves and I’m delighted fans can now keep a bit of that history with this comic,” said Amond. “It’s brilliant, I’ll certainly be keeping my copy in a special place.”
The FA Cup prize fund this season has been doubled this season and winning fourth round clubs will receive £180,000 in prize money.
Amond has 17 goals this season including the match winning penalty against Leicester and says: “We want to win the game and we think we can.
“The pressure is very small on ourselves. Everything is on Middlesbrough – they’re expected to win the game.
“The only ones who think we can win the game are probably us players and the staff.
“The key is to frustrate them for as long as we can and we have to take our chances when they come – like we did against Leicester.”
A number of Boro players were struck by the flu this week with Pulis planning to wait until late as possible before deciding on his team for the FA Cup tie with Newport.
“Four or five have struggled with flu this week,” said Pulis. “A couple we haven’t seen all week.”
Pulis admits his Middlesbrough team face a big test, saying: “The FA Cup is the greatest competition in the world. You can’t take anything for granted.
“Newport are a big strong team, a group of players who work hard together. It will be a tough game.
“I am delighted the tie is in Middlesbrough and that’s no disrespect to Newport. The home draw was important for us. The most important thing is to turn up with the right attitude and know it is a tough physical game.
“Newport will come here and will bring a lot of supporters up. We have to be ready.”
Defender Fraser Franks and club captain Andrew Crofts both look certain to miss Newport’s cup clash with Boro, while Matty Dolan, who started his career at Middlesbrough, is doubtful with a hamstring injury.
Newport players stayed at the Belfry Hotel near Birmingham last night and trained at England’s St George’s Park headquarters before completing their trip to a Teesside hotel.
“We’re giving the boys more of a relaxed journey up,” said Flynn.
“We’ll train on Friday and then make our way up to the hotel.
“It’s like any other away game then, a 3pm kick-off on a Saturday.”
More than 1,000 County fans will be at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium – and the football club are paying 50 per cent of the travel cost as a thank you to supporters.