From Tirana to Zenica: The Resurrection of Welsh Football

This story originally appeared on VICE Sports UK.

Twenty years ago the Welsh national football team was at a familiarly low ebb. Having narrowly missed out on the 1994 World Cup, qualifying for Euro 96 had been a disaster. The continental tournament would be held across the border in England, but the Welsh showing in Group 7 was a world away from what was required to get there. Wales finished fifth in the six-team group, kept off the bottom by the glorious achievement of having the superior head-to-head record against Albania. Above them sat the mighty Moldova, who were contesting their first qualifying campaign following the breakup of the Soviet Union; fellow debutants Georgia beat the Welsh by a comfortable seven points.

The results that got Wales into such a miserable place were predictably horrendous: a 5-0 hammering in Georgia, who also beat them at home, and a 3-0 defeat to Bulgaria at Cardiff Arms Park stand out. And yet, somehow, Wales were able to hold Germany to a draw in Düsseldorf – the same Germany who would go on to win Euro 96. Perhaps it should not be a surprise. Wales always seem punchier when the odds are stacked against them; when faced with lesser opponents, they have a history of not showing up.

Any Welsh fan who can recall this dark mid-90s era will probably share a common memory: Wales playing away in the former USSR, Ian Gwyn Hughes' commentary coming down a crackling phone line, and our team struggling against supposedly inferior opposition. The washed out colours of the former Soviet Union began to feel oddly familiar.

On paper the players looked good: Gary Speed, Ian Rush, Barry Horne, Neville Southall and many others were Premier League regulars. But the star man was rarely to be found. Ryan Giggs played only twice in the entire campaign, though during the same period he was turning out for 40-plus games a season at Manchester United.

Wales had good players, but seemingly no team. The final group game was played before 2,000 fans at the Qemal Stafa Stadium in Tirana, where a Mark Pembridge goal spared Wales from defeat to Albania, which would have seen them finish rock bottom. Cheers for that, Mark.

14 months earlier, the very first goal in that disastrous campaign was scored Chris Coleman. Two decades on, he has become the somewhat unlikely hero to finally lead Wales to qualification for a major tournament. It didn't come in the former USSR, but instead in the former Yugoslavia against Bosnia & Herzegovina. Or at least that's where the players celebrated on Saturday night. In truth, qualification was sealed by successive wins against Israel, Belgium and Cyprus.

From Wales' sole World Cup appearance in 1958 until Saturday night, the nation's record on the international football scene is pock-marked by bitter experiences like the Euro 96 campaign, Paul Bodin's penalty miss that cost us a place at World Cup 94, and the narrow defeat to Russia in the playoff for Euro 2004. In 1995 Wales were ranked 61st in the world, though this would drop to 102nd two years later. As recently as 2010, they were ranked a lowly 112th. It was a Welshman who wrote 'Do not go gentle into that good night', but the national football side did exactly that and then spent half a century asleep. Finally, with qualification for Euro 2016, they are blinking into the light.

And yet it all began so familiarly. In September last year, Wales opening qualifying match against Andorra looked set to begin another poor run. In front of just 3,000 fans, against one of the smallest nations in the draw, Wales were struggling. Andorra took an early lead from the penalty spot; Gareth Bale equalised on 22 minutes, but thereafter Wales could not find a breakthrough. This was an Andorra side whose previous qualifying effort, for World Cup 2014, consisted of 10 straight defeats, with 30 goals conceded and not one scored.

Entering the final 10 minutes at 1-1, it felt like the mid-90s all over again. The commentary was now crisp and clear, and you needed a Sky Sports subscription to see the nightmare unfold, but here again was a good Welsh side failing to beat supposed no-hopers. It felt as though another frustrating qualifying campaign was upon us. It felt like Wales.

Then, in the 81st minute, Bale stood over a free kick.

You cannot overstate the Real Madrid star's importance to Wales' success, and on Saturday night he said that qualifying for Euro 2016 was as significant to him as winning the Champions League. You might think that's bullshit, that a 2015-spec footballer could never care as much about their perennially useless national side as the glamour and prestige of the Bernabéu, but I believe it from Bale. In contrast, Giggs simply did not show that desire to succeed for Wales; his heart always belonged to the red side of Manchester.

Bale has scored several important goals during this qualification process. He scored two (and made the other) in a 3-0 away win over early group leaders Israel; he got the only goal in a heroic victory over Belgium; and he did the same when Wales beat Cyprus away, putting the team on the cusp of qualification.

But I would argue that none of those were as important as the second he scored in the Estadi Nacional, when he arched the ball over the Andorran wall and into the net, winning the game and sending a few dozen pissed Welsh fans on to the pitch in ill-advised celebration. Had Wales drawn 1-1 that day, to a team used to shipping five goals in a match, it would have been a huge blow; it would have felt like the same old story, and could well have unfolded the same way.

Despite the lack of sparkle, the opening win gave them something to build on: a respectable goalless draw at home to Bosnia, followed by a far more impressive 0-0 away to the Belgium of Hazard, De Bruyne and Courtois. Suddenly Wales were on a roll; Israel, Belgium and Cyprus were beaten successively — don't ask me when the last time we won three competitive matches on the bounce was — before the slight anti-climax of a draw at home to Israel; a win would have been enough to seal qualification in Cardiff.

But that's not where this was meant to end. It had to happen hundreds of miles away, in an unfamiliar country with a distinctly foreign names. Typically, it had to come with a defeat, too.

I recently heard someone describe the Welsh side as "Gareth Bale and 10 lucky competition winners," which has a sufficient grain of truth to be funny, but doesn't tell the whole story. Captain Ashley Williams and his defence have been vital, with Wales conceding just twice in their opening eight games (and one of those to Andorra). Goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey isn't even first choice at his club side.

Aaron Ramsey has not always been at his best, but his presence is important to the squad and he combined particularly well with Bale against Israel. Hal Robson-Kanu scored a vital winner at home to Cyprus. Neil Taylor, Ben Davies, Joe Ledley, they have all been excellent (and it would be remiss not to mention the man who isn't there, the late Wales manager Gary Speed). The talent level is really no different to what we had in '95. The difference is that our superstar wants it more than anything, while the players around him have formed a more cohesive unit.

For supporters, the feeling now is hard to place. Like most Welsh fans, I have no concept of watching a major football tournament with my team part of proceedings. Our only previous appearance came in 1958 — when we only qualified because no one else would play Israel in a hastily-arranged and politically dubious playoff — meaning you'd need to be at least 65 to recall Wales' quarter-final exit to Pele's Brazil. And then you'd have needed a TV to watch it on, which was by no means a guarantee in late-fifties Wales.

Whether we exit in the group stage or pull of a Denmark '92/Greece '04 and win the thing, the signs are good for Welsh football. At 26 and 24, Bale and Ramsey are entering their peak footballing years, and we have more young players coming through who can add to the side. Wales now play at a stadium with a capacity they can fill, which creates an actual atmosphere. With Swansea an established Premier League team, and Cardiff a semi-stable Championship side, there is a growing football culture in South Wales, which has for so long been the domain of rugby.

Euro 96 was being played next-door, but we were nowhere near good enough to qualify. Fortunately Euro 2016 isn't much further afield, meaning Wales can make up for 58 years in the international wilderness by travelling there in full force. But it doesn't really matter how we fare in France – the monumental achievement of simply being there is enough for now. The long night is finally over.

@jimmy_weeks