Y Wal Goch: Cymru’s Twelfth Man
“Life is filled with many pleasures, but a full house at CCS belting out Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau tops them all.”
The last decade has seen the fortunes of Cymru’s national team change for the better. 58 years of near misses and at times sheer embarrassment came to an end when Chris Coleman guided the nation to the semi-final of EURO 2016, the late Gary Speed can be attributed to playing a role in this qualification with him laying the foundations for the set-up we see today. We saw little old Wales once again punching above our weight this summer, reaching the last sixteen of EURO 2020(1) with Robert Page’s squad playing in mostly empty stadiums around Europe. With fortunes changing for the better on the pitch, they more than certainly changed on the stands as well.
Growing up and watching Cymru is so far from what it is now. “We see things they’ll never see” is an Oasis lyric often seen on football flags around this island, it also sums up what it’s like to follow our nation. Since the 1958 World Cup, our fans have witnessed qualification attempts that have ended in complete misery. From our FA picking to host a crucial qualifier against Scotland at Anfield for monetary gain over the Racecourse Ground where we had a solid record, resulting in Scotland going to the ’78 World Cup (albeit from a handball where a whole generation of Cymro still resenting Joe Jordan to this day), to dodgy floodlights at the Vetch stopping us from reaching Spain ’82. More heartbreak came in the 90s when a squad with the likes of Ian Rush, Mark Hughes, Neville Southall and Dean Saunders missed out on USA ’94 with Romania capitalising on Paul Bodin’s penalty miss at the old Arms Park. What followed was years of utter misery under the utter clown Bobby Gould, who let our national team train in prisons, lose in friendlies to Leyton Orient, ultimately the best clip of this era can be found on YouTube. Has your manager played and scored a header against Cwmbran Town? Don’t think so. The new Millenium brought optimism, we had a new 70,000 seater stadium in the heart of Cardiff, where a squad of gut-hugging Kappa shirt-wearing Welshman beat both Italy and Germany. Of course, this is Cymru and our hopes of EURO 2004 were snatched from us by the Russians, even after UEFA found them guilty of using performance-enhancing substances. It goes without saying, we had it rough. (Footage of Gould’s header against Cwmbran found below)
For 58 years, our fans didn’t have much to shout about. As Scotland, Ireland and England went on their travels, there we were at home, no wonder why fans of pel droed have been told the same old dribble that “we’re only a rugby nation.” A part of me wishes I was around to see “the lows” during the 80s and 90s, even though we were off the pace on the pitch, we all know that the music, the clothes and the culture of that era is nothing like what we got now. But you can’t sugarcoat the aggro of this time. I enjoyed Elis James’ football series that recently aired on the Beeb, with one episode, in particular, going into the hooligan element that was rife back in the day. Clashes against countries all over Europe were commonplace, but Welsh on Welsh was even more so common. This lingered on well into this century, a hell of a story I’ve been told by my butty Benji was of the running battles between our own in Milan before a Euros qualifier in 2003. Cardiff vs Swansea vs Merthyr vs Newport vs Wrexham, then all vs ultras and police. If Nick Love was born here, we would have seen this on the big screen over Football Factory no doubt about it. As time progressed, stadiums modernised, CCTV placed everywhere and enforcement clamping down, this seemed to fizzle out. The only first-hand evidence I’ve witnessed of trouble from our own was a flashpoint with Cardiff and Swansea trying to get at each other before we played the saes in the Millenium 10 years ago, obviously nothing like the severity of the 80s but its something I still look back and laugh on.
Going to the match back then, going to the match just over half a decade ago even was completely different to now. The first step to these changes came from a band who don’t half love a groovy tune. England home 2011 had that “clash” but I also remember walking past a band playing It’s Not Unusual. They were The Barry Horns, who’ve gone on to provide us with the backing to many of our chants on the stands. Especially in the run to EURO 2016, they orchestrated 30,000 fans with chants based on songs from the likes of Salt ‘N Pepa, The Human League and KC & The Sunshine Band. Even releasing two songs to coincide with our last two tournaments. Special mention to their cover of Only You by The Flying Pickets which had the music video filmed in Bargoed’s Capel Hotel, one of my valley’s finest establishments. The second step was moving from the Millenium Stadium to the Cardiff City Stadium. A packed Millenium was quality, but with things not so quality on the pitch, 70,000 fans was always a struggle. Games were getting near enough 10,000 fans through the 2000s, making for a non-existent atmosphere for games where we’d draw and lose to some of football’s less prestigious nations. The switch to Leckwith has worked wonders for the FAW and our fans. Even half the capacity of the 30,000 ground was miles above having the same numbers in the Millenium. The Canton stand provides a hub for fans who want to make as much noise as they can, with The Horns perched above the stand it makes hell of a noise. Life is filled with many pleasures, but a full house at CCS belting out Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau tops them all. The third element comes from one item of clothing, one that has become synonyms with Cymru’s fan culture that literally paved the way for Y Wal Goch/The Red Wall, all from one man in Bala. Tim Williams and Spirit of 58 changed the game, with all sorts of merchandise made by a fan, for the fans. Tees, polos, prints, fridge magnets, CD’s, Tim’s done the lot. The one that changed it all though was the bucket hat. Red, yellow, green or red, white and green. That garment can be seen everywhere on matchday, in away ends all over the world, on stickers placed everywhere, even worn by our current players. A sea of red can now be seen whenever we play, wherever that’s retro shirts, windbreakers, many flags from all corners of God’s country, but Tim’s merch arguably got all of it going, chwarae teg met. (Video below of Y Wal Goch in full voice in our last full capacity game)
It’s that time of the year again, the season is under way and the international break looms. Rob Page is set to announce his squad tomorrow ready for an away double header and a tie at home against Estonia. I’m gutted to say at the time of writing, Wales Away is off the cards, with our fans being denied the chance to watch us against Finland and Belarus. I was one of the lucky ones last June to be down CCS for the Albania friendly, technically that was the return of Y Wal Goch but with the Senedd using it as a test event, a capped 6,000 capacity just wasn’t the same. Don’t get me wrong, seeing faces I haven’t seen since we beat Hungary to qualify for the Euros at the back end of 2019 was special, but I know many weren’t there who’ll be there in a few weeks. The pandemic made me realise it’s not watching the football I missed (of course it’s a part of it) but the whole day around it. I missed having stinking looks from commuters on the Valley Line as I crack open a bag of cans, I missed filling the air of Womanby Street with clouds of red smoke, I missed bouncing about whilst screaming “Oooohhhh Chris Gunter” and “Vivaaaa Gareth Baaaale”, I missed marching through the capital surrounded by my mates, seeing the glow of CCS brighten the closer we get to the ground, I missed trying to pretend the taste of watered down Fosters in the concourse was alright, I missed the sore hands after clapping Men of Harlech all game, I missed chatting with fans from all parts of this country, sometimes it was a bit dull on the pitch but when we’re good, the scenes on the stands when we score are always as good as what’s happened on the pitch. After over a year of having this stripped away, the first proper one back will be more than special.
Up The Nation, Cymru Am Byth.
