FA Cup national anthem debate rages

Apr 14 2008 by Paul Abbandonato, Western Mail

ANYONE who has watched a Wales football or rugby international will know there is nothing quite like the playing of the national anthem to stir the emotions.

Whether it is sung at the Millennium Stadium, the old Cardiff Arms Park, Wembley, Twickenham, Croke Park or Moscow, there is something very special about the passion the words evoke in individuals.

At the Millennium, when 74,000 are singing, I have seen tears in the eyes of grown men. But even when 10,000 are in the ground, the pre-match anthem remains a lump in the throat magical moment.

No-one needs to tell me how important, or how wonderful, our national anthem is.

I say unhesitatingly, however, that Welsh Sports Minister Rhodri Glyn Thomas has got it 100% wrong in calling for it to be played at Wembley ahead of the FA Cup final.

The minister states “common sense” should prevail because Cardiff City are in the final this year and the FA say his request is “under consideration”.

Already a row is brewing with Talksport presenter Mike Parry making derisory remarks about Mr Glyn Thomas’ political role.

I have no wish to do that. I have even less of a wish to agree with anything Parry says.

I do say, though, that this is an issue the minister should drop at once ... and something the FA should cease considering even more quickly.

It is so simple for Mr Glyn Thomas to appeal to a huge section of the Welsh public by making this demand.

I recall only too readily the hoohah that was kicked up before the Cardiff versus QPR play-off final, when the Western Mail was flooded with complaints that the Football League were refusing to play the Welsh anthem, as well as the traditional English one.

We forwarded the views of the angry Welsh public on to Football League HQ. Such was the furore which erupted that, in the end, they succumbed, of sorts, and didn’t play either anthem.

But that occasion was different. The play-off final was being staged in the Welsh capital and it didn’t have the history and aura of the FA Cup final.

Cardiff versus Portsmouth is a global game that will be seen by millions of TV viewers in hundreds of countries around the world.

There is a real danger that if the two anthems are sung, they will each be roundly booed by rival fans. What sort of message of Wales would that send out to the world, I ask Mr Glyn Thomas?

You can just imagine if Portsmouth fans start jeering the Welsh anthem, what sort of response Cardiff fans will give when the English anthem is in turn played.

There is still a danger, of course, that it will be booed by a few come what may.

But the simple fact is that, with Abide With Me, God Save The Queen has been part of the tradition of cup final day for time immemorial.

It is as synonymous with the Wembley showpiece as those new suits with buttonholes the players wear and the winning team’s lap of honour at the end with the famous old trophy.

Cardiff City football fans know that and, we have to hope, are sensible enough to respect it. Which, I’m sure, the majority will do.

Creating potential friction by raising the whole issue of the anthems is the worst possible thing we could be doing.

This, whether Mr Glyn Thomas likes it or not, is the English cup final which Cardiff City FC and its supporters are immensely proud to be involved in.

It is not England versus Wales. Just ask Swansea City fans who they will be rooting for on the big day?

Equally, you can rest assured there will be millions of football fans in England who will be rooting for the underdog.

Who is Yorkshireman Peter Ridsdale going to want to win, or Liverpudlian Dave Jones?

We have enough of a can of worms on our hands as it is, with the whole European ban fiasco being imposed upon the FA, without a fuss about the anthem suddenly springing up to muddy the waters further.

Does anyone really think Soho Square bigwigs are taking kindly to being forced into a U-turn by Michel Platini and Uefa over Cardiff’s European fate?

That one is bad enough, as far as the FA are concerned, without having the biggest day in their calendar railroaded further by attempted political interference over the anthems.

There are leading figures within English football who, rightly or wrongly, won’t be taking too kindly to the prospect of a Welsh club representing England in Europe.

They will not be over-enamoured, either, by the prospect of having cup final day ruined by the booing of anthems, or calls for the Welsh anthem to be played in the first place.

I can just see some of those individuals suggesting that if this is such an issue, then Cardiff, Swansea and Wrexham’s historic right to play in the FA Cup should cease to exist.

I accept that’s an unlikely scenario, but in the current political football climate, let’s not give anybody any sort of excuse to even raise the subject.

You can rest assured that the London media, quite rightly, will be banging on about it should the big day be ruined by raucous booing.

On a final note, Mr Glyn Thomas, right, needs to accept most Cardiff City fans don’t want to be hearing and talking about national anthems.

Given the modern-day media glare, May 17 will probably be biggest day in their club’s proud history.

We should be debating Harry Redknapp versus Dave Jones, whether Aaron Ramsey can light up Wembley with his teenage magic, how Kanu can be stopped and whether David James can be beaten in the Portsmouth goal.

In other words, football matters, not political issues.

Ultimately, cup final day is about who wins over the 90 minutes, although everything that precedes it in terms of the pre-match singing is an historical part of the Wembley equation.

Some things are simply best left untouched.

Page 2: A whole new Welsh ball game