Last week supporters of Wales wept tears of joy. This time the tears were ones of sadness but also of pride. The people of Wales had truly, passionately believed that Gareth Bale and his team-mates could be the first British side to reach the final of a major football tournament for half a century.
“I’m so proud of them no matter the result,” said Jeff Jones, a security guard from the south Wales valleys who had piled into a car with friends to watch the game on a big screen in Cardiff’s Principality Stadium and did not care about his tear-stained eyes. “We’ll never forget what this team has done. They should build a statue to them right here – Cymru for ever!”
Until now, Wales has been best known as a rugby nation. But the success of the class of 2016, the first Welsh squad to have even qualified for a tournament since 1958 when they lost in the World Cup quarter-final to Pelé’s Brazil, may change that.
With a population of 3 million, Wales is a small nation but that may mean that its citizens feel closer to the squad. So many have a connection – from the jeweller from Carmarthenshire who kitted manager Chris Coleman out with a pair of cufflinks engraved with the squad’s motto ‘Together Stronger’, to the PE teacher from Whitchurch in north Cardiff who forced former pupil Bale to play with his “weaker” right foot because his left one was so strong, to the chip shop owner from Swansea who is proud to serve Coleman’s sister her cod.
“They don’t feel distant,” said Doug Gray, a Cardiff builder in the stadium who sported a dragon head for the occasion. “You feel you might bump into one of them in the pub. And you could have a pint with him.”
Some 20,000 fans had travelled to France for the game (others said they had decided to save their money and wait for the final). Big screens were set up around the country, hospitals boosted their Wi-Fi capacity so that patients could watch, and people at the power company prepared for the half-time surge as kettles were switched on.
Better known as the home of Welsh rugby, the Principality Stadium was the focal point in the capital.
Tickets were snapped up in minutes and though the stadium’s capacity was limited because a speedway track had been installed, the atmosphere beneath the closed roof was akin to a huge rugby international. Even when the side were 2-0 down, the national anthem continued to echo off the closed roof.
The demographic was striking. There seemed to be as many women as men and far more young than old. This team has reached out to those not usually interested in the sport.
“I’ve never really followed the football,” said Gemma Jones, a 22-year-old office worker from Monmouthshire. “But I just love what this team has achieved for Wales. I always thought footballers were a bunch of selfish prima donnas who fell every time someone brushed against them. This lot are different, I love them.”
The squad’s achievements have been a huge confidence boost for the nation. “Nobody gave Wales a chance in the Euros,” said “Pie” Williams, so-called because of his love of savoury pastries. “But this lot have shown what you can do if you work together.”
Williams, from Cardiff, was at the stadium with two of his grandchildren. “I can remember the years of hurt. This pair will remember this successful Wales team forever. I hope it will encourage them to have a go, not at football or sport necessarily but at whatever they want.”
The Welsh Labour government is hoping the side’s run will be a fillip for the economy, raising the country’s profile at a politically difficult time. The Welsh party Plaid Cymru hope it will create a surge in nationalism and led the calls for a suitably warm homecoming to be organised.
Perhaps they should have known. The last time they opened up the Principality Stadium for a crowd to watch a big game on a giant screen was when Wales played France in the 2011 rugby semi-final. The captain, Sam Warburton (like Bale, a former pupil of Whitchurch high school), was sent off and Wales lost.
There were tears then and tears now. But the biggest round of applause of the night came at the final whistle. They had lost the game but had won in so many ways. Outside the stadium the singing of a new national song – “Don’t take me home” – continued long after the final whistle.
