Support
Rugby union and Wales' national team hold an important place in Welsh culture and society. Sport historian John Bale has stated that "rugby is characteristically Welsh", and David Andrew said that "To the popular consciousness, rugby is as Welsh as coal mining, male voice choirs, 'How Green Was My Valley,' Dylan Thomas, and Tom Jones". Welsh rugby's first 'golden age' (1910–1911) coincided with the country's zenith during the 20th century, and rugby was important in building Wales' modern identity.
The 2004–05 season saw record attendances for Welsh home internationals. For Wales' 2005 Six Nations match against Scotland in Edinburgh, 40,000 Welsh fans travelled to see the game. The home attendance record was bettered the next year when over 500,000 fans attended Wales' seven home matches. The Millennium Stadium regularly sells out all of its 74,500 seats.
Read more about this topic: Wales National Rugby Union Team
Famous quotes containing the word support:
“There is much to support the view that it is clothes that wear us, and not we, them; we may make them take the mould of arm or breast, but they mould our hearts, our brains, our tongues to their liking.”
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)
“The confirmation of Clarence Thomas, one of the most conservative voices to be added to the [Supreme] Court in recent memory, carries a sobering message for the African- American community.... As he begins to make his mark upon the lives of African Americans, we must acknowledge that his successful nomination is due in no small measure to the support he received from black Americans.”
—Kimberly Crenshaw (b. 1959)
“I make this direct statement to the American people that there is far less chance of the United States getting into war, if we do all we can now to support the nations defending themselves against attack by the Axis than if we acquiesce in their defeat, submit tamely to an Axis victory, and wait our turn to be the object of attack in another war later on.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)