The Welsh FA can’t turn their backs on Wales fans now
The big question around the Principality Stadium
As over 50,000 people filled the P̶r̶i̶n̶c̶i̶p̶a̶l̶i̶t̶y̶ Millennium Stadium, the question that lingered in the air was whether the Welsh national football should be playing their games at the home of Welsh rugby?
There’s a real split on this; some arguing that it enables more fans to get tickets due to the higher capacity, while others argue that it is lifeless and matches should be played at the Cardiff City Stadium.
I’ll set my camp out early here — I’m dead set against playing Welsh football games at the Millennium Stadium. That said, I want to explore the reasons behind the switch and the argument for moving there.
The case for: demand and money
The move to the national stadium for the visit of one of world football’s greatest sides was obviously a marketing ploy by the Football Association of Wales.
Big attraction equals more demand. More demand equals more to supply. It’s really basic.
The Cardiff City stadium only holds just over 33,000 people, meaning that the FAW were able to sell 51% more tickets than if the match as played at the CCS.
At an average ticket price of £11.60, that means that the match at the Principality Stadium generated £580,000. While there will be running and rental costs to subtract from that, there will be a big chunk of profit for the FAW.
A poor atmosphere
Let’s be frank here, the atmosphere at the Principality was subdued. No matter how you look at it, the atmosphere would’ve been more electric at the Cardiff City Stadium.
While it would be easy to argue that the score didn’t help the atmosphere, I still think that the atmosphere would’ve been better at 4–0 at the CCS than at the Principality.
The stadium is a bowl that is built for rugby spectators, not football fans. While the Cardiff City stadium generates a carnival-style atmosphere, the Principality generates the feel of a major event, which isn’t suited to a football match.
Is there really a need for more seats?
I’d argue no. While the draw of Spain meant that more fans attended the friendly on Thursday night, only 25,000 fans attended the Wales v Ireland match at the Cardiff City Stadium back in September. There were almost seven thousand empty seats, meaning that the argument that the Principality Stadium gives new fans a chance to get tickets is wrong.
Why the FAW can’t turn their backs on the red wall
The last two major marketing campaigns from the FAW have centred around the message of unity among the players and Welsh fans.
#TogetherStronger was a major success and, combined with fan movements like the Barry Horns, Spirit of ’58 and others, created an unprecedented unity amongst Wales fans.
More recently, the FAW have capitalised on this with their new marketing campaign; the Red Wall.
The campaign plays on the nickname given to the Welsh fans — the red wall — and encourages fans to take membership of the ‘red wall’.
To celebrate the vital role Wales supporters continue to play in the success of our national teams, we have renamed the supporters club after you, THE RED WALL!
Again, this has been a success and a number of fans have taken up membership and bought Red Wall campaign tickets.
By moving games to the Principality Stadium, the FAW are abandoning the red wall.
They are abandoning the very notion of unity and #TogetherStronger that brought so much togetherness and pride to so many Welsh fans.
One of the strengths of the Red Wall at the Cardiff City Stadium is the congregation of fans in the Canton Stand, behind the goal to the left of the dugouts.
This is the undoubted ‘singing stand’ of the Red Wall and birthplace of many a cult chant. The Canton Stand are the conductors, leading the rest of the Welsh fans in creating an unrivalled atmosphere.
Despite the best efforts of the relocated Canton Stand loyalists, it was difficult for them to generate an atmosphere at the Principality. They were confined to the lower tier of the South Stand, where space was limited.
This meant that the number of fans sat in the atmosphere generating section of the stadium was a lot less than at the CCS.
We’ve not touched on some of the more logistical issues for football fans at the Principality stadium (or the opinion-splitting light show!) but having set their stall out with campaigns promoting unity, the FAW cannot abandon the loyal red wall in search of higher profits.
