Two of the four main teams in the UK have participated in the last two European Championships (Euro 2016 in France and Euro 2020). One is the Three Lions of England and the other is the Red Dragon Wales.
At Euro 2016 in France, England lost 1-2 to Iceland in the quarter-finals, stopping in the round of 16. Wales, led by Bale, advanced all the way to the semi-finals. This is the first time that the Red Dragon's record is better than that of the Three Lions.
The teams of the English football league system do not necessarily all come from England. Because there are three teams from Wales. Two of these teams are currently playing in the Second Division of England. One is Cardiff City, a team based in Cardiff, the "capital" of Wales. The other is Swansea, Wales. There is also a team that currently competes in a low-level event, the Newport team.
Today, we walk into Wales together and learn about the football culture of Wales.
Wales – another Celtic place
Wales is located in the southwest of the British Isles, which is surrounded by England on three sides, and the sovereign state of Ireland is across the sea from the west.
Wales has an "area" of about 21,000 square kilometres, equivalent to only one-sixth of England. Unlike England, the whole territory of Wales is predominantly mountainous. The Cumbria Mountains occupy most of the territory of Wales.
Welsh mountainous
Another feature of Wales and England is that Wales is more vernacular. Its capital, Cardiff, is the largest city in Wales and the 16th largest in the United Kingdom.
Wales has a population of around 3 million and is of the same ethnic origin as the people of Scotland and the island of Ireland. The formation of the nation, like the Scots, was unwilling to submit to Roman rule and used the mountains to resist the British Celts of the Romans. The Celts, who used the Cumbrian Mountains to block the Romans, formed today's Welsh.
Welsh "National Anthem": a song that represents a love of the land
Britain's four political entities can compete in the World Cup and the European Championship. The pre-match ceremony of playing the national anthem was very different. In the Competition of England and Northern Ireland, the song played is the British national anthem , "God Bless the Queen".
But Scotland and Wales are different. Scotland's "national anthem," The Flower of Scotland, set against the backdrop of the Battle of Bannockburn, is distinctly anti-English.
In particular, the recurring appearances in the lyrics of And stood against him, Proud Edward's Army, And sent him homeward, To think again.
Unlike the rebellious English colors of the lyrics of the Scottish national anthem, the Welsh "national anthem" has a relatively feminine tune and relatively soft lyrics. In the lyrics, he mainly expresses a love for the land.
Wales – Where did the Red Dragon come from?
The official nickname of the Wells national team is the Red Dragon. Because there is a red dragon on its team logo. The "flag" of Wales is made up of green, white and a red dragon.
The origin of the Welsh Red Dragon is related to the long-standing local legend of the red dragon and the white dragon struggle in Wales. Legend has it that when king Rut of the Celtics established his regime, a strange sound was always heard.
To this end, King Rut asked his brother Riva. Riva tells King Rut that it is the sound of the red and white dragons fighting. King Rut accepted Riva's advice and, when the two dragons were tired, poured them down with honey and buried them in the sarcophagus.
The struggle between the red and white dragons did not stop there. Later, Voltageng established himself as king. When Voltagen built the castle, the material of the castle always disappeared for no reason.
Voltageng found Merlin, a magician who was only 7 years old at the time. Merlin tells Voltagen that this is because the two dragons are fighting. The Red Dragon will defeat the White Dragon. The Red Dragon represents Wales and the White Dragon represents the Anglo-Saxons. This meant that Wales would defeat the foreign invaders England.
The language of the magician Merlin came true. Eventually, the Welsh resisted wave after wave of Aggression by the English and protected their country.
In order to commemorate this event, the Welsh people embroidered the red dragon on the flag and became the "national flag" and national emblem of Wales. Football became popular in England in the 19th century. England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland (which belonged to the United Kingdom at the time, and after independence Ireland became its own gateway, Northern Ireland remained in the United Kingdom to form the Northern Ireland Football Association) also embroidered red dragons on the team crest.
Where did the Welsh team in the English League come from?
England and Wales are also competing with each other. Wales competes for a spot in this World Preliminary Tournament with Ukraine. If Wales beat Ukraine to qualify for the World Cup, they will be in the same group as England (USA, Iran).
At the 2016 European Championship in France, England and Wales were in the same group, when Wales lost 1-2 to England in the group stage, wales in that tournament killed Northern Ireland and Belgium after reaching the knockout round, all the way to the final four.
But England were reversed 1-2 by Iceland in the quarter-finals. This tournament is wales most proud of their past.
Wales and English football are inextricably linked. Welsh stars Bale and Giggs both grew up under England's football youth system. Most of the Players in Wales have played in the English League.
There are also a series of teams from Wales such as Cardiff City, Swansea and Newport in the English league system. Wales and England teams together form England's league system.
All of this starts with the creation of the Welsh League. Because England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all established their own football associations and joined FIFA. But the only "national entities" with a well-established league system are England and Scotland.
Although Wales has its own independent football association, it can send its own "national team" to participate in the World Cup and the European Championship. But Wales was constrained by its small size and sparse population, and did not establish its own professional league.
Wales does not have its own leagues, but several large cities in Wales, such as the capital Cardiff, the largest industrial city of Swansea and Newport, have established their own clubs. Wales don't have their own professional leagues, but their neighbours England do.
Moreover, England not only has its own league system, but also has a well-developed economy. Historically, Wales and England have long been closely linked. As a result, the earliest welsh teams such as Cardiff City, Swansea and Newport participated in the English league system and became teams in the English league system.
It was only in 1992 that Wales set up its own league. However, there are only two tiers in the Welsh league. To this day it is a semi-professional league, and the European points are even lower than Malta. For example, Cardiff City, three teams that occupied a place in the English league early, Swansea and Newport still chose to stay in the English league system.
Cardiff City and Swansea have been known for reaching the Premier League, England's top flight, many times.