Yma O Hyd: How a Welsh folk song became an anthem for Welsh football.
On the 24th of March 2022, the red wall assembled behind Dafydd Iwan at the Cardiff City Stadium to deliver a battle cry as Wales went toe to toe with Austria.
Wales were about to attempt to do something that they hadn’t done in 64 years, reach the finals of the FIFA World Cup.
As well as Gareth Bale’s two stunning goals to guide Wales to victory, it was a moment before the match that will live long in the hearts and memories of Wales fans.
Dafydd Iwan and more than 30,000 Wales fans delivered a rousing rendition of his 80’s folk ballad — ‘Yma O Hyd’. Which translates in English to ‘Still Here’. The song, which had previously been adopted by Welsh sports clubs such as Cardiff City, Wrexham and Llanelli Scarlets, has become so synonymous with the Welsh national football team in recent years with fans embracing its underdog mantra.
But the song didn’t always have this connection to Welsh sports teams.
Dafydd Iwan is a Welsh folk singer and songwriter and former president of Plaid Cymru, a Welsh nationalist political party. He was imprisoned in the 1970s for defacing English language road signs while fighting for Welsh language rights.
“It had nothing to do with football as such, but it was a product of the time” Dafydd Iwan recalled writing the song. “1979 was the failed referendum on devolution which had left many of us in the doldrums.
“Then of course Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister in the same year and her policies were pretty disastrous for Wales because she was closing the mines, a lot of factories were being closed and farmers were under the cosh. There was general despondence.”
In 1983, Iwan set out on tour with Welsh folk band Ar Log where he composed a couple of songs.
“The first one was Cerddwn Ymlaen, that was sort of a rousing anthem, ‘We shall shall march on’ .
“And that was quite a success so we decided on another tour in 1983 and we wanted a follow-up song and it came out as Yma O Hyd.”
The song makes reference to Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus who reigned in 383 when the Romans left Wales.
“The Romans left us 1600 years ago and we’re still here”. Iwan said, when discussing the initial idea for the song. “We still speak this language that was spoken then, we still live in the same land and despite every attempt to away with us in the meantime we’re still here. So that was the original idea, to boost self confidence in Welsh people generally in the 80s under the Thatcher regime.”
It was 34 years after the songs release that Dafydd Iwan noticed that the song had been picked up by supporters of the national team. And even members of the team itself. Wales played Moldova in a World Cup qualifier in 2017 when he received an unexpected phone call.
“My son had been over in Moldova some years ago when we beat them and he rung me from the club that they were in after the game and he said ‘you won’t believe this but the Welsh team have just walked in and someone’s put Yma O Hyd on and they all started singing it.’ That was the first time I realised that something special was happening.”
When asked why he thinks that players and fans connect so much with the song, he said: “I think the idea of surviving against all odds is something that appeals to us as Welsh people. The world has been a bit nasty to us. But we’ve overcome it all.
“And I was glad that the video accompanying the song, sponsored by the Welsh FA took quite a radical political view on it, because the history of Wales as far as I’m concerned is the history of people fighting for their rights. Be it colliers or quarrymen or the Rebecca Riots or Tryweryn. Whatever it is, it’s been a long story of people standing up for their rights and that’s the history of Wales. And despite all that, and because of that we’re still here.”
Yma O Hyd obviously has its mentions of party politics. But the song is about so much more than that. Despite Dafydd Iwan’s previous position at Plaid Cymru and the songs references to Margret Thatcher, the song is a celebration of the survival of Welsh Culture and of the language. A feeling that remains ever present to this current day.
Martin Johnes, professor of history at Swansea University, said “I don’t think any football association or any sporting organisation should shy away from politics. Sport is very powerful and it’s a way of reaching people who might never normally watch the news or read a political document.
“I think what’s significant about the FAW is that they’ve sewed seeds, but they haven’t really gone beyond that. They’re not saying Yma O Hyd is a political song and they’re not saying anything more than ‘let’s celebrate Welshness and the fact that we’re a nation and we’ve been here a long time’.”
Despite the songs Welsh Nationalist connotations, Johnes doesn’t believe that the song has had or will have much of an impact in directly changing the political beliefs of supporters of the national team.
“The people that celebrate it probably already felt that. Some people are just happy to sing along, it’s a great tune. And maybe they don’t think or even know what it’s about. But I think for a small number of people, it has made them think.”
Paul Corkrey represents FSA (Football Supporters Association) Cymru on the board at Football Supporters Europe. He said: “Wales have often been second class citizens in the football world and the song just seems to elevate everybody.
“It’ll be interesting to see how far the song goes now because it goes in phases, I think it’ll become like Calon Lan. A song that comes and goes sporadically but it’ll always be sung.”