In 1983, Welsh folk singer Dafydd Iwan wrote a song about his country.
It railed against oppression, and its determination not to be silenced by its English neighbour.
What does Yma o Hyd mean?
Yma o Hyd, which translates to Still Here, was written against a background of political and economic turmoil, referencing Margaret Thatcher and the closure of coal pits in the country's industrial heartlands. It also stretched further into history to the time the Romans pulled out of Wales.
It was a defiant song about Wales's culture and identity. Its voice would still be heard, in its own language, was its message.
Demoralised by defeat in the 1979 independence referendum, Iwan, a political and language activist jailed a number of times, felt Wales was being “lost”. He has said he wrote a a song to say, “in spite of everything, we're still here”.
It became a standard for nationalists and supporters of the Welsh language.
What he could never have imagined, was that almost 40 years later it would become an anthem for the Wales football team and its fans. Its chorus be heard ringing out in the crowd throughout its opening World Cup match against USA, which resulted in a draw.
What are the lyrics to Yma o Hyd?
While England fans sing Football's Coming Home, Wales fans sing in Welsh:
Cofiwn i Facsen Wledig
Adael ein gwlad yn un darn
(We remember that Macsen the Emperor
left our country in one whole piece)
A bloeddiwn gerbron y gwledydd
Mi fyddwn yma tan Ddydd y Farn
(And we shall shout before the nations,
“We'll be here until Judgement Day!)
It goes on to repeat the words:
Ry'n ni yma o hyd
Er gwaetha pawb a phopeth
(We are still here,
in spite of everyone and everything)
Why do Wales fans sing Yma o Hyd?
The song was adopted by the team in recent seasons after fans began singing it during games. The Football Association of Wales spotted the chance to connect with those supporters and incorporated it into the match entertainment.
Before Wales's final qualifying game against Ukraine this summer, Iwan, now 79, was asked to perform the song in front of the crowd — known as the Red Wall — at the Cardiff City Stadium.
USA v Wales player ratings
With football fans as sons who have travelled to away matches, he knew it would mean a lot to the players and fans. With more than a few tears in his eyes, Iwan stepped up to deliver an emotional performance, made all the sweeter as Wales' 2-1 victory saw them reach the World Cup finals for the first time since 1958.
He told WalesOnline afterwards: “I get quite emotional singing certain songs, especially this one. But the atmosphere and sound made it all the more special. The Red Wall was like one big choir singing it with me. It was fantastic to realise for myself in that moment what it meant to the fans — the song has almost become like an anthem to them, and what's even more fantastic is knowing that Welsh and non-Welsh speakers were singing it too.”
He continued: “The song is essentially about survival — Wales is still here and the Welsh language is very much alive. It's also about celebrating being a small nation. The Welsh football team has contributed a lot to those aspects as well.”
After the Ukraine victory, Wales's most-capped player Chris Gunter invited Iwan onto the pitch to celebrate with the team. Gunter was the catalyst for the song being taken up by the team after adding it to their prematch playlist.
“Chris Gunter started it,” said Wales manager Rob Page earlier this year. “We played it every day before training and on the coach, and that is something we have now got as our anthem. It is a big part of what we are all about. The song is very poignant. We can all relate to it. We are all passionate Welsh people who love our country.”
The surge in Wales’s on-pitch fortunes has coincided with a new era of self-confidence for its fans, and perhaps the country as a whole.
The Red Wall, a term coined by Bale when talking about the lift his team get when walking on to the pitch and seeing the fans, has its own identity, from bucket hats and retro shirts to the songs and anthems they sing.
Their numbers have grown from the brave dozens who would travel abroad in the early 2000s to thousands now.
Among the long-standing and frequently suffering has been author Tim Hartley, who has travelled the world writing about his love of football and its fans.
The Welsh language is something that unites many Welsh fans, he told The National.
According to the Welsh government’s Annual Population Survey, about 29 per cent of Welsh people, or 899,500 people, can speak Welsh to some degree.
But it punched above its weight when it comes to football supporters, many of whom come from North Wales where the proportion of first-language speakers is greatest.
The self-confident, bilingual atmosphere has not arrived by accident.
The Football Association of Wales, rare among sporting governing bodies in that it is actually popular with fans, has been at pains not to dictate how its matches should be supported.
“The feeling around football is very authentic,” said Rob Dowling, head of content and engagement at the association. “It’s run by people that really care about the game and it’s been embraced by the Welsh public.
“We use language in a really accessible way in terms of mixing it with English. It has really pulled the country together.”
That tactic was noticeable in the stands at Ahmed bin Ali Stadium on Monday, when behind the goals, the Red Wall sprang into voice. Wales are still here.
Lyrics — Yma o Hyd chorus
Ry'n ni yma o hyd
Ry'n ni yma o hyd
Er gwaetha pawb a phopeth
Er gwaetha pawb a phopeth
Er gwaetha pawb a phopeth
Ry'n ni yma o hyd
Ry'n ni yma o hyd
Er gwaetha pawb a phopeth
Er gwaetha pawb a phopeth
Er gwaetha pawb a phopeth
Ry'n ni yma o hyd
(We are still here,
we are still here,
in spite of everyone and everything,
in spite of everyone and everything,
in spite of everyone and everything.
We are still here,
we are still here,
in spite of everyone and everything,
in spite of everyone and everything,
in spite of everyone and everything.
We are still here.)
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West Indies 158 (38.1 overs)
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Ashwin (3-28), Yadav (3-41), Pandya (2-32)
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Directed by: Anthony Mandler
Starring: Kelvin Harrison Jr., John David Washington
3/5
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At one point, two feature films were in the works, but only German director Werner Herzog’s project starring Nicole Kidman would be made. While there were high hopes he would do a worthy job of directing the biopic, when Queen of the Desert arrived in 2015 it was a disappointment. Critics panned the film, in which Herzog largely glossed over Bell’s political work in favour of her ill-fated romances.
A documentary
A project that did do justice to Bell arrived the next year: Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum’s Letters from Baghdad: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Gertrude Bell. Drawing on more than 1,000 pieces of archival footage, 1,700 documents and 1,600 letters, the filmmakers painstakingly pieced together a compelling narrative that managed to convey both the depth of Bell’s experience and her tortured love life.
Books, letters and archives
Two biographies have been written about Bell, and both are worth reading: Georgina Howell’s 2006 book Queen of the Desert and Janet Wallach’s 1996 effort Desert Queen. Bell published several books documenting her travels and there are also several volumes of her letters, although they are hard to find in print. Original documents are housed at the Gertrude Bell Archive at the University of Newcastle, which has an online catalogue.
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Day 5, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance
Moment of the day When Dilruwan Perera dismissed Yasir Shah to end Pakistan’s limp resistance, the Sri Lankans charged around the field with the fevered delirium of a side not used to winning. Trouble was, they had not. The delivery was deemed a no ball. Sri Lanka had a nervy wait, but it was merely a stay of execution for the beleaguered hosts.
Stat of the day – 5 Pakistan have lost all 10 wickets on the fifth day of a Test five times since the start of 2016. It is an alarming departure for a side who had apparently erased regular collapses from their resume. “The only thing I can say, it’s not a mitigating excuse at all, but that’s a young batting line up, obviously trying to find their way,” said Mickey Arthur, Pakistan’s coach.
The verdict Test matches in the UAE are known for speeding up on the last two days, but this was extreme. The first two innings of this Test took 11 sessions to complete. The remaining two were done in less than four. The nature of Pakistan’s capitulation at the end showed just how difficult the transition is going to be in the post Misbah-ul-Haq era.