Good To Be Back: The Return of Y Wal Goch
We all know the result by now, and the less said about it the better. On another day, we put four past Estonia. If Wilson buries that chance within the first minute, it’s a whole different game. But what’s done is done, we’ve all slept it off and we go onto the next international break in October. Despite the negative scoreline, the mood could not have been different for those on the stands (until full time possibly.)
For the first time since we qualified for Euro 2020 all the way back in November 2019, I woke up feeling all the nerves associated with watching Cymru. It was a welcomed return, knowing that in a few hours that I would be surrounded by thousands of like-minded individuals from all parts of the country who’ve descended onto the capital for 90 minutes of pel droed. Grabbing a bag of cans from the corner shop in the village, making my way to the train station, having some tins and laughs with mates on a crammed two-carriage heading towards Cardiff, all things that I took for granted before a pandemic shook all our lives up. I am a firm believer that it’s not watching the match itself that we missed the most, it’s everything else that comes with it.
Despite what a few may say, football and politics go hand in hand. Imagine saying football and music aren’t related, or football’s many fashion trends are just a farce. Try saying it to the hundreds who take over Womanby Street, the beating heart of a Cymru Rydd. A sea of red lines up through the street originally built to link Cardiff Castle to its quay, flags are hung up outside Clwb Ifor Bach, stickers are slapped on as many lampposts as they can, countless pints are sunk and songs? There’s a reason why we’re known as the land of song and on a matchday, it’s no different. Own up, how much have you missed singing about a certain footballer having a bad back? We pride ourselves on being an Independent Football Nation, a fan favourite chant says it straight about the union jack, you can always spot Eryr Wen on flags, a strong Yes Cymru presence, football fans love having independence on the field, and through football, the appetite is there for independence off it.
Womanby Street is where it’s at pre-match, everyone who I had the pleasure of meeting and chatting to on Wednesday just affirms why I love this little old country and its national team so much. Everyone from Bangor to Bargoed, Cardiff to Caernarfon, Wrexham to Wattsville, there’s no North-South divide, no inter-club animosity spilling over. Matching through the capital with our brothers and sisters, filling the sky with red and green smoke, making a hell of a racket, going under the rail bridge by Ninian Park station and seeing the glow of Cardiff City Stadium, we are all as one.
I have seen a lot of tweets from both Reading and Charlton fans since Wednesday who are utterly confused as to why our fans were bouncing about the Canton concourse to the tune of Ooooohhhh Chris Gunter. To them, he’s a subpar fullback playing out in the EFL, to us though, Gunts is one of us. He’s a brick in the Red Wall who has the privilege to step out onto the pitch, to the point where he has done it more times than any other Welshmen. Watching him earn his 100th cap in an empty ground was brutal, but I think we more than made up for it this week. When the time comes that he hangs his boots up, if he’s not in the dugout, it really wouldn’t surprise me to see him on the Canton, hands in the air, belting Men of Harlech. Let the saes take the mick, we all know what he means to us and he knows the same.
It didn’t happen for us on the pitch, but the atmosphere was superb. Win, lose, or draw, we quite simply don’t shut up. At the time of writing, my throat is still sore and truth be told, my voice was going by the time I was queueing at the turnstiles. I know many in the same position and we can all agree that we wouldn’t change it for anything. A special moment from the fans happened in the 52nd minute, as the ground erupted in applause for the late Gary Speed on what would have been his 52nd birthday. He’ll always be at Wales with us. The booing at the end was dodgy, but in hindsight, seconds before French referee Ruddy Buquet had us all thinking he was going to check VAR after Jonny Williams was brought down in the box at the back end of injury time. He instead gave a yellow card to Cymru gaffer Robert Page, and most in the ground lost their heads (myself included.) Many stayed after the final whistle to clap and cheer our boys off the field, and to me, that’s what sets us apart from the rest. Many on that pitch were the ones who sent this country to totally new heights, many of them are in the new generation who will be tasked with continuing our upwards trajectory. They deserve as much support as we can give them, Welsh football has never been in a better position than it currently is, so let’s cut out the unneeded negativity and meltdowns.
Roll on next month and the return of Wales Away, then roll on the doubler header at home in November and then roll on whatever is next for Little Old Wales.
It’s good to be back.
