“NOSTALGIA isn’t what it used to be,” said the American novelist Peter De Vries but as football fans sometimes it’s all we’ve got left to cling to.

As an Arsenal fan that is particularly true at the moment but the pain of finishing below Spurs and out of the Champions League places pales into insignificance compared to the prospect of relegation out of the Football League.

That is the fate that could yet befall Newport County AFC this coming Saturday as the battle to stay in League Two continues on the final day of the season.

But, as so often in the sport we all love, there is comfort to be found in the history books.

Many of the Exiles supporters who pack out Rodney Parade this weekend for the crunch game against Notts County will be too young to remember the club’s original Great Escape season.

But there will undoubtedly be some fans who were there at Somerton Park back in May 1977 to see County beat Workington to secure Football League survival who will be hoping that history repeats itself.

One man who was most certainly there 40 years ago is John Relish, who played a big part on the pitch for County that day.

It was a pleasure to catch up with him yesterday to discuss his memories of the first Great Escape and get his thoughts on the chances of the current generation getting over the line this weekend.

And it’s clear that there are many startling parallels between this season and that 1976-1977 campaign.

Relish says Flynn has had much the same impact as Colin Addison did when he came in as manager all those years ago.

County had just two wins in 20 games when Addison replaced Jimmy Scoular in January 1977.

They went another six games without a victory under the new man but then won 12 of the final 20 games – including all of the final five – to survive.

The first win under Addison came on March 4 – 40 years to the day before the 4-0 home defeat that led to Graham Westley being sacked and Flynn taking the reins.

Addison and Flynn are similar characters, according to Relish, and they both gave the players a new lease of life and a sense of freedom and enjoyment that is crucial in the run-in.

“Addo was a breath of fresh air,” Relish told club historian Andrew Taylor, author of Look Back in Amber and Newport County: The First 100 Years – two excellent tomes for fans looking for inspiration from the past this week.

“He made things enjoyable. His sheer enthusiasm rubbed off on everybody.

“Under any other manager we probably would have given up but he was so positive.

“We made Somerton Park a place no teams wanted to visit.

“That last game against Workington was tense but we thought we’d do it.”

Addison himself remembered: “There wasn’t plenty to do, there was everything to do!

“I will never forget it. Little Brian Preece scored a great volley to win at Workington and we had a few pints.

“Then of course we had to go again.

“We went from 1,000 in my first game to 8,000 on the last day of the season.

“I drove down from Hereford thinking ‘We ain’t gonna fail!’ “I’d done it at Hereford under pressure in the last game when we went up and I wasn’t going to let it go now.”

Eddie Woods was the man who got the goal that secured County’s place in the Football League on May 17 that year.

“About two to three games left I really began to believe we could do it,” the striker told Taylor.

“We had to beat Workington in the last game and I scored, although it was not exactly the best goal of my career!

“Addo got us to go up into the stand at the end of the game to thank the crowd.

“It was packed out there and the supporters gathered on the pitch as we threw our shirts to them. Great scenes!”

Great scenes indeed and let’s hope we see similar celebrations at Rodney Parade at around 7.30pm this Saturday night, scenes that will be talked about in another 40 years.

Although Addison left County in 1978, that team carried on the momentum from the Great Escape and won promotion to the third tier just three years later under Len Ashurst.

They went from the brink of non-league to the most successful era in the club’s history in a few seasons.

And, should Flynn’s team complete the miracle this Saturday, they have to hope they can use it as a springboard for future success in a similar fashion.

After two years of decline since the departure of Justin Edinburgh, there is once again a feel good factor about the club under Flynn’s control.

Supporters are returning in great numbers and enjoying watching the team once again.

The club has to harness that support and that positivity and build on it but first they must get the job done this Saturday.

It's a day when the current players can secure their place in history and take a major step towards a brighter future.

The alternative doesn't bear thinking about.