It says something when the phrase “You’ve made my dreams come true” is insufficient to describe how happy you are.
For Welsh football fans, our dreams came true on a rainy night in Bosnia, in October 2015, when we qualified for the European Championships. Years of hope, years of failure, had come to an end. What happened in France this summer went far beyond that - we didn’t just play at the European Championships, we shone at them.
People from across the world shared in our story of heroic individuals and an unrivalled team spirit. We may not have captured the trophy, but we captured the footballing world’s heart. You could see how much it meant to Welsh fans. Supporters were caught with tears rolling down their cheeks as they witnessed what they thought was impossible.
But how can a football team mean so much to us?
We all know about the near misses that the Welsh team have had to suffer in the last 58 years. From missed penalties to a Russian drug charge, we feel like we have been robbed of our opportunity to play on the international stage. Years of failure meant that people across Wales lost interest in the national team, and lost hope. Wales would play at the 70,000-capacity Millennium Stadium in front of a few thousand people, and the quiet atmosphere summarised a feeling of defeatism and despair. When major tournaments came round, Wales was treated, for all intents and purposes, as a part of England, our shops filled with English memorabilia. At times, it has felt like our national team was dead.
Even in 2014 there were calls from Wales Online for our national team to be disbanded, in favour of “Team GB”. An MP even called for a debate on the subject in the House of Commons. And make no mistake about it - this would be the English team, with our best Welsh players, with another name. The incredible atmosphere that has developed at the Cardiff City Stadium would be replaced by games at Wembley. The iconic renditions of Mae Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau would disappear. And, maybe worst of all, the Barry Horns would be gone.
For the hardened group of Welsh fans who stuck with the team through the barron years, and even those who had given up on it, the Welsh side’s very existence is something we should be proud of. To see it representing the country with such passion, dedication and skill at the semi-finals of a major tournament is more than a joyous experience - it is a privilege that we have fought for. There is no wonder that one of the fans’ favourite slogans, printed on stickers you can see across our country, is “Independent Football Nation”.
And what a football nation we are.
I know people who have never watched a game of football in their lives who squealed with joy at Robson-Kanu’s goal. But as easy as it would be to be proud of a team as good as ours, my pride went far beyond individual footballing brilliance. At a time when Wales is under threat from those who want to divide our society, our national team showed just what it means to be Welsh.
In our team, we have a Welsh speaker from Penygroes, Owain Fon Williams, Joe Ledley from Fairwater in Cardiff, the Asian Football of the Year for 2015 in Neil Taylor, whose mum is from India, and Ashley Williams, our inspirational captain, who as a 9 year old wrote to Subbuteo to complain about the lack of black players.
In Plaid Ifanc, we are fighting for our vision of Wales - a Wales where no matter your background, if you have a stake in your nation’s future, you are treated as a Welsh citizen. Our football team is the embodiment of that, and just look at how good they are. Look at how good we can be. To those who try to divide us, to define Welshness in their own terms - you can not take any joy from what we achieved in France. This is a victory, and a celebration, for a modern, progressive, united Wales.
Nothing has made me happier than seeing the videos of our fans celebrating across the country. I watched three of our games at the fanzone in Cooper’s Park in Cardiff, and the atmosphere was out of this world. People singing together in Welsh and English, dancing, hugging and consoling as our emotions went up and down. But wherever you were in Wales, from fanzones in Cardiff to Ynys Mon or in pubs from Wrexham to Swansea, this was a shared experience. We will never forget the summer that a Wales flag emblazoned with Rhos On Sea flew with pride at the semi-finals of the European Championships. A summer when our clubless striker scored one of the best goals we have ever seen to knock out the second best country in the world. A summer when the whole world stood back in silence as we sang our national anthem.
We can learn a lot from our football team. While we have been reminiscing about the greatest summer of lives, Gareth Bale has been demanding that this is just the beginning of the journey. He says that the players are more driven than ever to pull on their Wales kits and take their country to new heights. I will take that drive, that passion and that commitment to make Wales a better place. Our country faces challenges that right now may feel insurmountable. But let the lesson of Euro 2016 be that no hurdle is too high for our country to overcome.
Wales, when it pulls together, can achieve things that we had never even dreamed of. As Chris Coleman said - fear is overrated. Never be afraid to dream.
by Daniel Roberts
