They left with modest expectations: advance to the knock-out stages and perhaps emulate the famous team of 1958 by reaching the quarter-finals of a major tournament. On Friday the Wales football team will fly back into Cardiff as heroes, having nearly become the first British side for half a century to reach a final.
Fans are expected to gather in their thousands at the temporarily renamed Cardiff Bale airport to catch a glimpse of the players and manager Chris Coleman when they touch down on Welsh soil at lunchtime. Many thousands more are bound to lines the streets of the capital to watch an open-top bus parade from Cardiff Castle to Cardiff City Stadium, where a “homecoming show” will be staged featuring acts ranging from the Manic Street Preachers to the Barry Horns, an 11-piece brass band whose name is a homage to the former footballer Barry Horne.
Wales’s dreams of silverware were wrecked on Wednesday night by Portugal, who won 2-0 in the semi-final, but Gareth Bale and his team-mates won the hearts of the nation and will go down in history as one the country’s greatest national sporting teams.
The Football Association of Wales chief executive, Jonathan Ford, said it had been a momentous few weeks for Welsh football and he hoped the homecoming would cap it off nicely. “We feel this event is a great way of everyone celebrating what has been a historic period for Welsh football,” he said. “The scenes we have seen both at home and over in France have been fantastic and we hope that our passionate supporters can enjoy another moment with the players to end a memorable few weeks.”
An estimated 90,000 Welsh people travelled to France to support the team, while Cardiff was a magnet for those who stayed. Thousands of people attended fanzones set up in a park behind the castle and, for the semi-final, in the Principality Stadium.
The Welsh first minister, Carwyn Jones, paid tribute to the team and the fans on Thursday, saying: “This has been more than a football tournament for Wales – it’s been an unprecedented opportunity for us to showcase that we are different.
“We have a unique culture, unique values and unique people – something which is now recognised by billions of people all over the world. The performance on the pitch has been magnificent, the impression our fans have left on France and the rest of the world equally so – you’ve all done your country very, very proud.”
The Welsh Tories have called for the team to make a homecoming visit to other parts of Wales. The party’s spokesperson for sport, Russell George, said: “The support for the Welsh team in France has been sensational, with fans from Mold to Monmouth and Holyhead to Hengoed playing their part in this historic achievement.
“It would be fantastic for people in all parts of Wales to have the opportunity to welcome the team back and for players and supporters to show their mutual appreciation. This could also play a key role in encouraging participation in sport, improving public health levels and creating an ongoing legacy for our elite athletes.”
