Mike Jenkins - Welsh Poet & Author
  • Mike's Blog
  • New Book!
  • About Mike
  • Contact
  • What's the point?
  • The Climbing Tree
  • The Fugitive Three
  • Publications
  • Red Poets

THE NATIONAL SPORT OF CYMRU IS..........FOOTBALL!

2/25/2013

1 Comment

 
   - This weekend as proved tha footie is the number one game in Wales.
   - Ow cun yew say tha? Didn we beat Italy........ an we could still win the Championship. An what about Becky James, eh? Ow about cyclin as the top sport?
   - Nah, it's gotta be footie. Swonzee win the League Cup, Cardiff go eight points clear, Wrexham get t Wembley an Newport are pushin f'r promotion.
   - Yeah, but the Welsh national team ave got a massive followin.....they represent the whool nation.
   - Remind me ow they got on against all them Southern Emisphere teams. Anyway, club rugby's doin opeless. All the regions ave failed miserably this season.
   - So, shull we agree on cyclin then?
   - Orright, but it's not the greatest spectator sport is it?.........Round an round an round!

   Football is now our national sport! The demeaning three feathers, with their monarchist 'I Serve' motto, has been replaced by the dragon.....swan, bluebird etc.
   Laid low with a bout of flu, I watched the Wales v. Italy game and, although the second half was marginally more open, I found it unremittingly dire.
   Football's all about possession (just look at Swansea against Bradford), while rugby, on the evidence of this game, is about kicking the ball into the hands of the opposition to gain territorial advantage.
   Italy never seemed interested in scoring tries (isn't that the game's object?) and players of both sides kept dropping the ball. Jonathan Davies blamed it on the conditions, as if Wales weren't used to playing in the rain.
   Points came courtesy of mistakes and there was only one moment of attacking skill, when Cuthbert scored a try.
   Rugby seems increasingly to depend on sheer muscle and power (just look at George North), whereas the great footballers are pure skill and hard work. Messi is hardly a muscle machine, is he?
   The Welsh national rugby team have a huge following, which the football team can only envy. Yet a large number of fans are more interested in 'the drinking art' than sport itself (as Robert Minhinnick once argued in an excellent essay).
   Football is followed throughout Cymru, while rugby is a game predominantly confined to the south and  south-west.
   The enormous achievements of both Swansea and Cardiff have captured the passion of the sporting public.
   There is simply no comparison between rugby at regional level - where a 10,000 crowd is seen as admirable - and football at club level, where both of our major teams play to over 23,000 on a regular basis.
   We have a world class player in Gareth Bale, who is now up there close behind Messi and Ronaldo, and Swansea's pan-European team have often been dubbed as Wales's Barcelona.
   Movement, passing and a strong squad ethic have become a really vital feature of Cardiff's success as well. In the last few years, they have reached Wembley three times : F.A.Cup Final, Play-off Final and League Cup Final last season, though they haven't won a trophy as Swansea have now.
    To cap it all, both Wrexham and Newport are doing exceptionally well. The former reached the final of the F.A.Trophy and are top of the Conference, while Newport are a couple of points behind and pressing for promotion.
   I recently read an article in the Guardian's Sport supplement about the demise of Welsh club rugby. It focused on Bridgend, but also mourned the loss of such an historic club as Pontypool. The situation was depicted as desperate and club officials castigated the WRU for their callous behaviour.
   This is a stark contrast to the impact of both Cardiff and Swansea this season. Swans' fans represent the hwyl of the country when they sing 'Hymns and Arias' (even adopting a rugby song) and Cardiff have 'Men of Harlech', though I much prefer 'I'll Be There' with its strong roots in the club's past.
   Despite having players from many nations, there are still key Welsh elements, with Ashley Williams and Ben Davies for Swansea and the inspirational Craig Bellamy for Cardiff.
   Of course I'm biased. Of course I've had this argument before.
   Yet now, of all times, it seems fitting to state my case : our national sport is the 'wendy-ball' and not the 'egg chase'!



                                      FOOTBALL, A POEM

Football, a poem moving :
ode to the glorious game.

Each player a stanza ;
the manager's imagination.

Every fan a reader,
analyzing or taken by emotion.

(The chairman sees it differently,
believes it's all accountancy.)

Each word a pass, movement a line :
the dramatic symbol of a win.





1 Comment
Nike Mercurial Vapors link
10/14/2013 04:13:14 pm

I really appreciate this wonderful post that you have provided for us.Got some great information here. I assure this would be beneficial for most of the people.

Reply



Leave a Reply.



    Archives

    November 2019
    September 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos used under Creative Commons from johnharveypegg, Dai Lygad, joncandy, victoriapeckham, David Holt London, aeneastudio, fromthevalleys-, Metro Centric, andymag, David Bergin Photography, villunderlondon, @markheybo, joncandy, Martin Pettitt, Between the Shadows, joncandy, johnkell, olivia.barrie, villunderlondon, Lake Worth, MittenStatePhototog, frankieleon, robynejay, joncandy, mcaretaker, Thomas Leuthard, Knight Foundation, joncandy, Joybot, brownpau, Iburiedpaul, villunderlondon, amit_gaur, abegum, simonw92, beeveephoto, Aislinn Ritchie, Shannon Green Photography, joncandy, Nick J Webb, Vish Menon, AberCJ, gcoldironjr2003, joncandy, World Can't Wait, jonl1973, Watt_Dabney, petejam70, Kerndav, MJ Klaver, joncandy, Daquella manera, spratt504, joncandy, ashleigh290, Glyn Lowe Photoworks., afanatochka, r.nial.bradshaw, themendingnews, rikkis_refuge, Matthew Straubmuller, joncandy, onnola, final gather, funktionhouse, marioanima, joncandy, Dai Lygad, joncandy, Guttorm Flatabø, brittreints, garryknight, villunderlondon, wonker, Martin Pettitt, joncandy, tnarik, AJC1, simonw92, wardyboy400, joncandy, Bombardier, joncandy, Cargo Cult, joncandy, joncandy, SeanOConnor2010, Feral78, comedy_nose, Abode of Chaos, mkairishstudies, joncandy, avail, Jörg Weingrill, Gwydion M. Williams, Leshaines123, KiltBear, eisenbahner, Capt' Gorgeous, Francis Storr, New Chemical History, Matthew Black, jc.winkler, Gwenael Kere, Karen Roe