Anushree Nande explores the extraordinary rise of the Wales National Football team from 117th 4 years ago, to their phenomenal campaign at the Euro 2016.
“Sports are human activities made difficult for the joy of it.”
– John Ciardi
Sporting narratives are inevitable whatever the nature of the event. Good, bad, gut-wrenching, inspiring; sport as a whole thrives on the intricate relationship between emotions, collective human psychology and the communal sense of history and memory. For viewers it provides a sense of belonging to a larger world, showcases a pinnacle of human achievement and endurance, and allows us to experience an intensity, unpredictability and hope that is often absent in our everyday lives.
Euros 2016 was no different with its share of stirring stories, underdogs, champions and heady moments along the emotional spectrum. One such unforgettable narrative was provided by Wales. Participating in only their second major international tournament, they snuck into the hearts and imaginations of fans from across the world with a remarkable run that ended with a 2-0 loss to Portugal in the semi-finals. They are not the first underdogs to defy expectation, nor will they be the last. But to understand what makes this journey remarkable, momentous even, requires going back in time.
Wales competed in its first competitive match on March 25, 1876. Their opponents were Scotland and the match took place in Glasgow. It would take just under a year before the first international football match took place on Welsh soil on March 5, 1877, again versus Scotland. For the third oldest football association and international football team in the world, it would take many years before they experienced their first “golden age”. It was in the 1950s that stars such as Jack Kelsey, Alf Sherwood, Cliff Jones, John Charles and the like, managed by Jimmy Murphy, qualified for the 1958 World Cup for the first (and until now only) time in their history.