'I didn’t want pity': O'Brien plots Newport's latest upset after retiring at 27

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Heart surgery forced Mark O’Brien to retire at 27 and though Newport’s former captain will miss facing Newcastle, analysing games is helping his recovery

Rodney Parade has, as Mark O’Brien can vouch, been home to some of the biggest giantkillings in recent years but when Newcastle visit in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, he will be rooting for Newport County from the stands, commentating rather than influencing events as captain.

He retired aged 27 in June and, a month later, underwent open-heart surgery for a second time to solve a leaking valve. “I’ve been through hell and back for 10 years,” O’Brien says. “Each year I used to have to get a heart scan to make sure I’d be allowed to play the following season but nobody really knew that. I didn’t want to be a pity story. ‘Let’s all take it easy on him.’”

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from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/sep/30/mark-obrien-plotting-newport-cup-upset-football

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