Never forget you're Welsh: the role of sport as a political device in post-devolution Wales

Abstract

This paper considers the role of sport in post-devolution Wales in terms of how an important policy concern that permeates a range of government portfolios has operated in an environment where the notion of 'Othering' has given way to the advance of neoliberal ideas in the way in which sport is perceived by policymakers. This is achieved through a discussion of four elements of Welsh sport: the opening of Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, the significance of the Welsh contribution to the 2005 Ashes victory, the continued playing of Welsh baseball and the attention given to the successful Welsh participants at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2008, with particular reference to the victory celebrations which followed the homecoming of the Welsh athletes. However, throughout the discussion it is regularly acknowledged that much of Welsh sport is framed within the context of Britishness.

The 2010 Ryder Cup, images of Wales and tourism development

“…Cardiff hosted the Empire Games (now known as the Commonwealth Games) in 1958 and in more recent years the capital city has also staged international test cricket matches and FA Cup finals. These both highlight some of the complex identities present here, for in the case of the former the home team competes as England (although includes players from other parts of the Isles and beyond), and the latter is perhaps one of the most English of all sporting events (see Harris, 2008;Holden, 2011). Yet it is the sport of Rugby Union that many people most associate with Wales. Rugby Union ascended to the position of the national game and has long served a key role in both promoting and expressing a particular Welsh national identity (e.g.…”

Keeping up with the Joneses: Hosting mega-events as a regenerative strategy in nation imaging, imagining and branding

“…Sport can be a particularly powerful tool for (re)presenting the Welsh nation and portraying a particular (at times imagined) identity (Harris, 2007(Harris, , 2008Holden, 2011;Johnes, 2005). In an age of increased globalisation, hosting major international sporting events does provide a means of putting a place on the map and raising its profile in an international context.…”

“…Sport has been central to the regenerating of Cardiff in the twenty-first century with the Millennium Stadium becoming the venue for a whole host of different sporting and other entertainment events. International test cricket matches have also been staged elsewhere in Cardiff, where the home team plays under the banner of England, to further highlight the complex and multi-layered identities integral to international sport on the Isles (see Holden, 2011). Cardiff also staged the first action of the London 2012 Olympic Games when two days before the opening ceremony in London, the Millennium Stadium hosted a women's football match between Great Britain & Northern Ireland and New Zealand.…”