The Wales national football team represents Wales in international association football. The team played their first match in March 1876 against Scotland before hosting their first home match the following year against the same opponent. The location selected for the fixture was the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham, the world's oldest international football ground still in use. The ground hosted all of Wales's matches until 1890, when a game was played against Ireland in the English border town of Shrewsbury. Wales played matches in several parts of the country, including Bangor, Cardiff, and Swansea over the following two decades.
The advent of professionalism in Welsh club sides saw the construction of several purpose-built football grounds. Two, Ninian Park in Cardiff, which hosted its first international in 1911, and Vetch Field in Swansea, which hosted its first in 1921, shared Wales's home matches with the Racecourse for nearly a century. Although one match was moved to Anfield in Liverpool in 1977 as a result of crowd trouble, no other venue would host a Wales home international fixture between 1910 and 1989 (when the team began playing at the National Stadium in Cardiff). Construction of the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff was completed in 2000, and it was immediately named as the side's new home ground. Although attendance was initially high at the Millennium, a gradual drop saw the team play matches in several newly built grounds (including the Cardiff City Stadium and the Liberty Stadium). The former was popular, and was credited as a factor in the team's improvement; it was subsequently designated Wales's permanent home venue.
Since the team's first match, sixteen grounds have hosted a Wales home international. The Racecourse has held more matches than any other venue with 94 by January 2020, 12 more than the second-most-frequently-used ground, Ninian Park, which was demolished in 2009. Four home matches have been held outside Wales; three were played at Anfield in Liverpool, and one at the Old Racecourse in Shrewsbury.
History Early years (1876–1900)
The Wales national football team played their first international match on 25 March 1876 against Scotland at Hamilton Crescent in Partick, losing 4–0. The fixture was reversed the following year, with Scotland travelling to Wales for the country's first home international on 5 March 1877 at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham, which was owned by Wrexham Cricket Club. The ground included a separate tent for women and their male companions. Guinness World Records recognises the Racecourse Ground as the world's oldest football ground which continues to host international matches. The next ground to stage an international which is still in use is Hampden Park in Glasgow, which did not host its first match for another 27 years. The Racecourse remained the only ground to host a Wales home international match until 1890, including the first meetings between Wales and England (1880) and Ireland (1882). Wales's meeting with Ireland led to the side's first victory on home ground, with John Price scoring four times in a 7–1 win. Wales had considerable success against the Irish side during the 1880s, winning by five or more goals on five occasions. The final victory, an 11–0 win at the Racecourse, remains Wales's record victory margin in international competition. During the formative years of international football, Wales's matches were played only against the other Home Nations in the British Home Championship, with matches alternating between home and away venues each year.
Matches against England and Scotland were held at the Racecourse in Wrexham as they tended to attract large crowds, while fixtures against the traditionally lesser-known Irish team were hosted by alternative venues. In 1890, Wales hosted Ireland at the Old Racecourse in the English border town of Shrewsbury. The Football Association of Wales (FAW), the country's governing body for the sport, believed that holding the match at the Old Racecourse would attract a larger crowd. Although the match drew a significant number of fans, its attendance of 5,000 was only equal to that at previous fixtures at the Racecourse Ground. Matches returned to Wrexham until 1892, when Wales's opening fixture of the 1891–92 British Home Championship against Ireland was moved to Penrhyn Park in Bangor; the FAW had been petitioned by the committee of the town's football club, Bangor, to host a match. The venue, provided by George Douglas-Pennant, 2nd Baron Penrhyn (who was present at the match), was on the grounds of Penrhyn Estate. Inexperienced security personnel were unable to manage a crush which developed in the waiting crowd, resulting in at least one serious injury when a boy suffered broken ribs. The crush forced stewards to open the gates to the ground and allow most of the spectators in without paying, losing the FAW significant gate revenue. The North Wales Express called the decision to admit all 5,000–6,000 spectators through a single small gate "sheer stupidity".
The FAW decided to play the first Wales international in the south of the country, traditionally a rugby union stronghold, in 1894. St. Helen's in Swansea, the home ground of the Wales rugby union team, was chosen as the venue, and the decision was viewed by some as a direct move against a competing sport; one English newspaper described it as "carrying the war into the enemy camp with a vengeance". On the day of the match, the Western Mail published a diagram of a football pitch and a list of differences between association football and rugby union for those unfamiliar with the former. Wales defeated Ireland 4–1 in front of over 10,000 spectators, generating a £147 profit for the FAW. Buoyed by the income, the FAW arranged a second match in South Wales for England's 1896 visit, the first time a team other than Ireland had been hosted away from the Racecourse. Encouraged by a rugby union crowd of 20,000 at Cardiff Arms Park earlier in the year, the FAW selected the ground in the hope of attracting a similar number. However, the match was a letdown on and off the pitch. Despite organising free train travel for supporters in North Wales, only 5,000 attended the game, a crushing 9–1 defeat for Wales. The FAW turned its attention back to North Wales, with Bangor initially scheduled to host Ireland in 1898. However, a late change of venue moved the match to the Oval in Llandudno instead. Wales returned to the venue two years later, with 6,000 spectators attending a second match against Ireland in 1900. When the match began, only 4,000 spectators were at the ground; however, crowd noise attracted additional interest (and attendance) as the game progressed.
Move south and pre-war success (1900–1945) Wales returned to the Arms Park to face Ireland in 1902, meeting England at the Racecourse a month later. The match against England, which ended in a goalless draw, attracted a record Welsh crowd of around 10,000. When 1903's only home match was awarded to the Arms Park, 25 North Wales clubs signed a letter of complaint to the FAW and requested a meeting with the governing body. The decision stood, however, and a crowd of 6,000 witnessed a 1–0 loss to Scotland. Wales's matches were becoming popular, and Bangor sought to bring the side back by offering purpose-built stands at the town's cricket ground to host the 1904 match with Ireland. Gate control was an issue again as large numbers of spectators watched the game for free from nearby vantage points, including the roof of a local school and along a road overlooking the ground. Bangor made a loss of £17, despite a crowd of over 4,000, and has not held an international match since then.
Wales's 1906 meeting with England at the Arms Park attracted a record crowd of around 20,000 to a 1–0 loss. This led the FAW to again look for venues in South Wales; a match against Ireland was played at the Athletic Ground in the Rhondda mining town of Aberdare in 1908. Workers in the local collieries started work an hour early to reach the match on time, and a large crowd of around 10,000 rewarded the FAW's decision. Although the Arms Park in Cardiff was used again in 1910 for a match against England, the emergence of Cardiff City as a professional football club and the construction of Ninian Park, their purpose-built football ground, made it the last Wales international held at a rugby ground until 1989. Ninian Park hosted its first international match on 6 March 1911 against Scotland. Built on the site of a former rubbish tip, the pitch often became littered with debris which had risen to the surface. Although attempts were made before each match to clear the surface, Scottish player Peter McWilliam received a career-ending gash to his leg from a piece of glass; Wales's Billy Meredith cut his knee during the same game. Matches alternated between Ninian Park and the Racecourse until the outbreak of the First World War.
After the war, Wales's first competitive internationals were played at Ninian Park before Vetch Field hosted Ireland for its first international in April 1921. The Racecourse and Ninian Park became the main venues for the national side following the First World War. Although Welsh clubs such as Cardiff City and Swansea Town regularly drew record crowds, the national side struggled to attract similar attention during the 1920s. The FAW proposed to move a home match to Manchester or Liverpool in the hope of earning more money from a larger crowd, but were eventually dissuaded by representatives of Wrexham. A restructuring of the side under FAW secretary Ted Robbins and a switch to midweek matches, which allowed players to be released by their club teams more frequently, triggered a resurgence during the 1930s. The side won the 1932–33 British Home Championship, with the newly refurbished Racecourse attracting 25,000 fans (a record crowd in North Wales) to a goalless draw with England.
Wales retained the championship the following year, and another record crowd of 40,000 saw the side defeat Scotland 3–2 at Ninian Park in the first Cardiff match in four years. Although Robbins was reluctant to agree to a match in the city due to his belief that the FAW could earn more in North Wales, pressure from Western Mail reporter Harry Ditton and the promise of a free publicity campaign changed his mind. England's September 1934 visit was the first Wales home match with an attendance of over 50,000, and the increased crowds at Ninian Park made it the choice for Wales's biggest matches. This was despite the main grandstand at the ground being destroyed by a fire in January 1937, when thieves used explosives to open a safe holding gate receipts from an FA Cup match. When competitive football was halted during the Second World War, Wales played eight unofficial matches against England; all but one were held at Ninian Park.
Post-war success and decline (1946–1990)