00:07For decades, sporting culture in Wales was rooted in rugby union.
00:15It is the sport at which the country of just three million people has excelled most prominently on the international
00:22stage.
00:23So much so that the Encyclopedia of Wales states that the sport is seen by many as a symbol of
00:30Welsh identity and an expression of national consciousness.
00:38One rugby match, against New Zealand in 1905, took on particular significance when the home crowd began to sing Henvlad
00:48Fynadau, or Land of My Fathers, in response to the All Blacks performing their pre-game haka.
00:55This has since been cited as the first time a national anthem was sung before an international sports event.
01:12But from the moment Wales kicked off against Austria in white shirts, the teams were hardly on speaking terms again.
01:18Despite the cultural prominence of rugby, football has always been played widely throughout the country.
01:25But the national team's relative lack of success meant for many years its struggle to compete for status.
01:33Take for example the British Home Championship, a competition between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
01:41Held 88 times between 1883 and 1984, Wales won the championship outright on just seven occasions, all before the start
01:51of the Second World War.
01:52Wales took the honours having beaten England for the first time in 17 years.
01:56Add on to that the peculiar status of Welsh football clubs.
02:02The political landmass known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland coalesces around a shared government in
02:09Westminster.
02:10But the constituent parts exist as four separate countries.
02:16All four have their own football associations, but only one country, Wales, finds its best teams playing across the border
02:26in the English league system.
02:31The reason is straightforward.
02:33Back in 1920, when Cardiff City were blossoming as an entity, and the following year, when Swansea City followed suit,
02:41there was no Welsh league for them to join.
02:46The League of Wales, now known as the Cymru Premier, didn't exist until as recently as 1992.
02:57Consequently, the likes of Cardiff, Swansea, Wrexham and Newport County have all operated professionally on the wrong side of Offers
03:08Dyke.
03:08This has meant the investment and growth in these clubs has largely gone to help English football, not Welsh.
03:22Despite such a small population, structural disadvantages and the primacy of rugby, Wales has still managed to furnish the game
03:31with some of the greatest players to ever lace up boots.
03:35Billy Meredith worked in a coal mine at the age of 12, played football chewing a toothpick and won the
03:42FA Cup with both Manchester City and United.
03:49John Charles finished in the top eight of the Ballon d'Or six years in a row from 1957 to
03:551962, starring as both the centre-forward and centre-half.
04:00John Charles and John Charles heads it in.
04:03Then there's John Toshak and Terry Yorath in the 1970s.
04:09Neville Southall and Ian Rush in the 1980s.
04:13Mark Hughes and Ryan Giggs in the 1990s.
04:18And in the 21st century, arguably the greatest of them all.
04:24Gareth Bale.
04:27These players have contributed extraordinary things to some of the sport's biggest clubs, making the world sit up and take
04:36notice of Wales, an enigmatic football nation.
04:41Less than a minute, a beautiful shot by Charles.
04:43Yes, but they have a great way.
04:43We know that, following this programme, we
04:44think of will хорош even knowing the last round.
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