Snowdon the setting as Wales aim to climb mountain at Euros

Yr Wyddfa will be the setting for Rhian Wilkinson's side as women's football in Wales continues to rise

Wales will be revealing their Euro 2025 squad in a special event on Snowdon. Credit: Getty Images

Wales’ squad for their maiden European Championships is set to be announced on Thursday, but it certainly won’t be your regular, run-of-the-mill announcement.

Rhian Wilkinson will name her 23-person roster on top of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon). Throughout the qualifying campaign, the squad made no bones about wanting to climb their own mountain, with major tournament qualification acting as their summit, so why not announce that team on top of Wales’ highest mountain?

But when you delve deeper, there are so many subtle meanings and reasons as to why this is such a special venue for a historic announcement.

This Welsh footballing mountain has been built over a long period of time. After the 50-year ban on women’s football was lifted in the early 70s, a group of Welsh women started playing international football but were never recognised by the Football Association of Wales (FAW). Throughout the 70s and 80s, the women’s team weren’t “officially” accepted as a Welsh national team, and that’s despite playing the likes of England and the Republic of Ireland.

Things had to change and in the early 90s they did, when three women demanded that the FAW change their stance. Laura McAllister, Michele Adams and Karen Jones wrote a letter to the head of the association to try and get the team recognised. Despite initial hesitance, then secretary general Alun Evans, after lengthy talks, set up the first “official” Welsh Women’s team.

You would think that would be the hard work done, but this wasn’t the case. Years and years of amateurish behaviour followed. Playing in men’s kits, no media coverage, no nothing. The cherry on top of this atrocious cake came in the qualification campaign for Euro 2005, when the FAW deemed travel to Wales’ group opponents too expensive, meaning they never kicked a ball in their bid to reach the tournament.

Entering the 2010s, things began to change. Full-time managers were put in place, the quality of play began to increase, and little by little, they were getting closer to a potential first tournament.

Plenty of heartbreak came in both the Jayne Ludlow and Gemma Grainger eras, yet it’s under Wilkinson that Wales have finally completed their mission. These players have conquered the mountain, but this has been built over 50 long years. Without the trailblazers of the past, there would be no summit to reach.

If you look away from the pitch, this announcement on Yr Wyddfa continues the FAW’s commitment to encourage and promote Welsh culture.

This hasn’t always been the case. We’ve seen how difficult it’s been for the women’s team, but on the men’s side too, Welsh culture hasn’t always been prominent. For large parts, club football ties overrode everything else, and the fanbase felt fragmented.

The catalyst for change came in the shape of the late, great Gary Speed. The former Wales captain brought a level of professionalism not seen before to the national setup when appointed as men’s first team manager. He was keen that his players, and fans, be proud of where they came from.

The squad learned the words to ‘Hen Wlad fy Nhadau’, and for the first time the anthem began to feel like a real rallying cry before a game. The FAW adopted new slogans like ‘Gorau Chwarae Cyd Chwarae’ and ‘Together Stronger’ once again, strengthening the bond between the association, the team, and the fans.

Stories began to be told to make players aware of who they were representing. Whether that be of Wales’ coal mining history, pioneers of past Welsh glories, or visiting major cultural events like the National Eisteddfod, the connection kept growing and growing.

But perhaps the biggest shift we’ve seen over the past half decade is the growth of the Welsh language. Bilingual press conferences have become the norm across the national teams, while Dafydd Iwan’s ‘Yma o Hyd’ has become the Cardiff City Stadium soundtrack of choice. There has been a welcome increase in the number of people attending Wales international matches and the proportion of Welsh speakers among them has grown considerably.

An announcement on Yr Wyddfa is another example of that. In a bid to keep Welsh names and cultures alive, Snowdon was officially renamed Yr Wyddfa. Therefore, to have such a big moment in Welsh footballing history taking place at an iconic Welsh location gives many of us hailing from this land a great sense of pride.

This summer is going to be a memorable one, but Thursday morning will feel like a very appropriate Welsh way of kicking it off.