Post-qualification and the Millennium Blues

Over the last few years, one of the most disappointing aspects of Welsh football (apart from the lack of top-class players, crap results and fairly uninspiring style of play) has been the attendance at matches. The last few home matches, bearing in mind they were against pretty decent opposition, had terrible attendance. Only 22,600 made it for the match against Finland, 26,000 for Germany and just 14,400 against Russia. This in a 72,000 seater stadium so you can imagine how empty that felt.

This is contrasted with the rugby, where international matches sell out almost instantly and tickets for the 6 nations and autumn internationals seem to be available only through a mysterious ‘I know someone who knows someone who could get you tickets and if I get you one you have to paint my shed’ type system.

Now, I’m the first person to point out that the people who support the Welsh rugby team and beg, borrow or steal for tickets for rugby internationals generally aren’t the sorts of people who watch international football (many don’t even support a regional or club rugby side. Some aren’t even sports fans just very patriotic). And I really should point out the inherent fickleness of the Welsh people, and of Cardiffians in particular, who appear to live in the ficklest city in the ficklest country in the whole world. So you can see why the Welsh football team may not pack out a stadium brimming with patriotic fervour if the team is a bit, well, crap.

Which is why I’m seriously happy that the Welsh team will be playing at the new Ninian Park on Saturday. OK, OK, technically it’s the Cardiff City Stadium. There have already been the customary dropouts that accompany any Welsh international friendly, but after watching other matches at the stadium, I know that 22,000 will have the place feeling pretty much full and the atmosphere should be good. This is so important, as I can only imagine how sapping it must be for the players to come out into a stadium that’s barely got anyone in it and play in front of echoing stands. Is this a reason that so many of the experienced players have retired from international football, that they don’t want to play out matches in front of a handful of people when they could be resting up and prolonging their careers (leaving Tosh’s personality to one side, if it is possible to leave that man’s ego somewhere it won’t be noticed).

So, after seeing whether the Ninian experiment works the FAW need to sort it out. Either slash the ticket prices and almost fill the stadium (seriously, you need 55 000 in there for the atmosphere to feel right), or play at Ninian Park or (god forbid) the Liberty Stadium and fill it. I’m pretty sure the players would rather have a full-house of enthusiastic supporters in a smaller ground rather than a half full mega-stadium with a large part of the crowd just there because they happened to be in town on a Saturday afternoon.

Oh, and FAW, whatever you do, for fuck sake staff the doors adequately for late walk ups, especially on a Saturday afternoon match.