Welsh footballing fortunes have never been so high that they can afford to discard their supporters. Yesterday 13 fans, intent on flying with the team for tomorrow's game in Belarus, were turned away at the departure gate because the plane was overloaded.
In scenes of farce, police officers at Stansted airport were summoned to prevent the fans, fuelled by anger and drink consumed during the three-hour delay, from taking their seats alongside Ryan Giggs, Gary Speed and Co.
The regular travellers, who say they have invested "many thousands of pounds" following their country and have paid dearly for it by sharing in some of the team's humiliating results, shouted abuse at the FA of Wales members as they boarded the flight.
They were offered an alternative route to the Belarus capital with an overnight stop in Frankfurt (the FAW was kind enough to offer to pick up the tab) before finishing the journey this morning.
However that could not placate them. "Our life is following Wales," said Gwilym Boore. "We go to games to ease the tedium of life and we feel sickened by this.
"The fans have put more effort into following their country around the world than the players did in Italy and Switzerland, and this is our reward. It's a disgrace and David Collins [the FAW secretary general] should resign out of self-respect.
"The Welsh FA seem more concerned about getting the FA Cup final to Cardiff than looking after the hard-core fans."
An embarrassing mix-up left the team aircraft with 1 tonnes of excess baggage. Officials had expected only 10 team skips but ended up with 16. Thousands of gallons of water were sacrificed along with quantities of baked beans and bread but it was not enough. Officials had to make a choice between losing more food or the fans. The fans lost.
It was not the best of starts for the new manager Mark Hughes as he begins his two-match trial. Collins said: "I feel for the fans but we were left with no alternative. We've got two matches to play and the priority is the team."
Free tickets will be available for the no-go 13 for October's Switzerland game; that is in Wrexham so there should be no problem. And at least they are guaranteed a seat on the flight back from Minsk - assuming that all the food and water has been consumed.
