The contrasting fortunes of the national men’s rugby and football teams have sparked yet another debate on which sport is the true national sport where the perceivably “failing” governing body is going wrong and where the “succeeding” governing body is going right.
You could make the case that the success of the men’s rugby team in previous Six Nations and Rugby World Cups have papered over the cracks in rugby below international level.
What’s more difficult to judge is whether recent performances are “chickens coming home to roost” for the WRU, or a transitional period between the Gatland-era “golden generation” and the next generation of players.
Sport is naturally cyclical. A few of the current golden generation of men’s footballers are moving closer to international retirement. Also, if it wasn’t for the Nations League providing more competitive international matches, Wales would probably struggle to get more than 11-12,000 people to turn up for friendlies to fill the gap between qualifying campaigns.
Don’t go back to the Principality/Millennium Stadium – It’s world-class in its own right and a fine venue for one-off games (Champions League finals etc) when it’s full or nearly full, but it’s not suited to a dead rubber qualifying game or an international friendly. One of the FAW’s best decisions was to move to the Cardiff City Stadium – a more intimate environment suited to football – and hopefully they’ll take more games to Swansea and a redeveloped Racecourse Ground in the future.
Going back to Cardiff city centre would be a purely financial decision and the kind of thinking that the WRU are getting criticism for (more on that later). If they want to generate extra matchday income without hiking ticket prices, it would make far more sense to expand the Cardiff City Stadium.
Youth set-up and schools (more accurately: as it used to be many years ago) – Despite football being at least as popular in Wales in terms of player numbers, rugby seems to have a clearer focus on participation at the youth level. There’s seemingly no high-level equivalent of the National Schools & Colleges League or Hub programme in football – only the Dragon Park programme for national youth sides, club-based academies and somewhat confusing regional age-grade leagues (some involving schools, some involving club academies).
There’s a wider issue affecting both sports in terms of falling participation rates and high drop-out rates, with some teams occasionally struggling to put teams out. There have also been complaints about the increased focus on bulk/physical power over skill, being selected because of connections/nepotism and over-coaching. Similarly, in football, some coaches at youth level may focus too much on winning than developing skills.
The opportunity is in schools, colleges and universities and the FAW shouldn’t be afraid of making their presence known there. I went to a famous “rugby school” where despite football being by far and away the most popular sport on the playground, it was treated like it didn’t exist. Even hockey was taken more seriously.
Domestic pyramid clubs shouldn’t be afraid to fight their corner – Rugby clubs in the south and west (maybe not so much in the north) seem to play a bigger role in the social and cultural life of communities than their respective football clubs. In some places, there may not be any other social venue than the local rugby club.
The Welsh domestic rugby game at the semi-pro and amateur level gives the impression of being better supported by the WRU – financially, commercially and in terms of governance – than the FAW supports the Welsh domestic football pyramid. Whether that’s true or not is up for debate. This can, and probably does, go too far on occasions with the professional and commercial elements of the game seemingly still being heavily influenced by committee men; football used to be the same way until recently.
Things have changed in the last few years. With the advent/re-branding of the Cymru Premier, Ardal and Adran leagues, the FAW is beginning to create a bit more of a buzz and professionalism. The Cymru Premier as it is now doesn’t deserve to be the butt of jokes that it used to be, but it still struggles to get people through the gates and seems underfunded and underappreciated. The key to changing this would be a bigger community role for football clubs and greater investment in the competitions.
The domestic football pyramid shouldn’t be afraid of asking for a bigger slice of the pie and attention from the FAW, much like the club game in rugby….though not going too far. The blazers need to stay in the cupboard.
