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by The Republic of Walloonia. . 4 reads.

Miracle of Mynwy

The 1974 draw between Monmouth City and Rhondda City, colloquially called Gwyrth Mynwy (English: the Miracle of Monmouth), was a 1974 sporting event contested between bitter rivals Rhondda City and Monmouth City. Despite the differences of the two clubs' fanbases and a fight in the first half, the crowd managed to sing "Baner Dewi Sant" and "Calon Lān" together, two months before the Independence War started. The biannual derby between these rivals was often the scene of rampant hooliganism that plagued Walloonian football in the late 1960s and especially in the early 1970s. In the 1973-74 Royal League of Walloonia, the game instead became a symbol of Walloonian unity.

The 17th of May 1974 was the final day of the 1973-74 Royal League season. Leading up to this game (and even in previous seasons) football players and their clubs had been choosing sides in the upcoming Independence War. Some clubs that were Loyalist released all of their Separatist players and vice-versa. News coming from earlier in the evening read that Dublin and Monaghan, Ireland had been bombed by the Ulster Volunteer Force, a Loyalist paramilitary group during The Troubles in Ireland. Walloonia at the time was a Crown Colony of the United Kingdom, meaning that Walloonia's economy was impacted (albeit in a small sense) by the attacks. Some away fans of Rhondda City actually cancelled their trip to the stadium out of fear of another attack.

Prior to kickoff, the winner of the league was the home side Monmouth City, but they were only two points ahead of second-place Rhondda City. A win for Rhondda meant that they would have won the league against their fiercest rival (on their ground), and both teams walked onto the pitch with match officials holding the trophy, with one side having red and white ribbons (the colours of Rhondda if they were to win), and the other side having red and green ribbons (for Monmouth). This was the first time the league was decided on the final day of the season, and has only ever been done thrice since (2004-05, 2018-19, and 2019-20).

The game was scheduled to begin at 16:45 local time, however, usual pre-match delays delayed kickoff until 16:47 local time. In the 17th minute, a shot by Rhondda City forward Marc Jones hit the crossbar and went into the away supporters' sections of Whitchurch Park. The ball was supposedly passed between Rhondda City supporters several times, delaying the game for three minutes, before stadium security kicked out four away fans. Two Rhondda City fans in Section 12 began heckling stadium security once the game ball was put back into play. Nearby Monmouth City fans began shouting at the away fans to get them to stop heckling, and stadium security eventually kicked both of them out as well. In the 35th minute, Rhondda City defender Gethin Johns was issued a yellow card for a late tackle on Monmouth's Marc Jones inside of the penalty area. Jones, believing the tackle to be intentional, got up and shoved Johns. The referee gave Jones a straight red, but in the stands, the area between Sections 10 and 11 (Monmouth supporters had sections 1-10 and 15-20, whereas Rhondda had 11-14) began to rumble as supporters of both clubs began to fight each other over the call. At least seven fans were injured in the altercation before stadium security put a stop to it. The ensuing penalty kick was taken by Monmouth's captain Ieuan Fraser, putting Monmouth ahead 1-0. As both teams walked back to the locker rooms at halftime at 17:37, news began spreading amongst fans that the British government had issued an ultimatum to Gwyndaf Llewelyn to leave his seat in the City Council of Swansea. Some fans were erroneously assuming that the British had declared its colony to be in open rebellion and that it was sending its military to the islands. The crowd fell utterly silent at about 17:41, which led commentator Charles Price to exclaim "You can hear the crickets chirping." He himself checked the news and saw the ultimatum, which led him to say on air "What the f---?" and issued Walloonian viewers to read the news. He called upon a sideline reporter to talk to Rhondda head coach Stephan Easton about the half, then remained silent for the rest of the halftime broadcast (at the time, advertisements were not played during halftimes).

At 17:52, the players re-entered the pitch for the second half, which kicked off at 17:54. The crowd was utterly speechless, leading the referee to give Monmouth defender Meic Hughes a yellow card for profanity in the 49th minute. In the 57th minute, Rhondda midfielder John Aarons scored a left foot volley to tie the game at 1-1, leading the crowd to finally resume its loudness. Some Monmouth fans in Section 6 began singing "Hen Wlad fy Nhadau" in the 59th minute, but the song died off shortly afterwards. A different group of Monmouth fans in Section 19 began singing "Calon Lān," and most of Section 20 and Section 1 had began singing by the 60th minute. The song eventually made its way to the Rhondda sections, where by all accounts there had been silence since the start of the second half. One Rhondda fan stood up from his seat and began singing with the crowd, and eventually the whole stadium sung the final chorus of Calon Lān, during which Price stopped talking again. After many cheers, the crowd went silent again, and some of the players had even stopped playing to clap for the fans. Most of the crowd had taken their seats again, but one Monmouth fan in Section 8 began singing the anthem of the Annibynwyr (pro-independence Walloonians), "Baner Dewi Sant." The song spread like wildfire, and the whole stadium was singing it by the first chorus in the 66th minute. Kenyon Rice, Monmouth City's goalkeeper, also joined in the singing, as allegedly did some of the outfield players. The song was over by the 70th minute, but the crowd began singing it again. During the second verse of the second time through, Monmouth forward Wynn Samson dribbled past Rhondda defender Anwyl Carey, scoring to put Monmouth up 2-1. This, however, did not stop the crowd from singing. The song actually became louder, especially in the Rhondda City sections of Whitchurch Park. Once the song had ended for a second time by the 74th minute, clapping ensued. When all of that died down again, the commentator Charles Price infamously exclaimed "We have just witnessed history at Whitchurch Park!" and "What a moment for Monmouth. What a moment for Rhondda. What a moment for Walloonia!" He also exclaimed "In my twenty-six years of football casting I have never, ever seen or heard anything like that!" However, the volume was only so low for so long, as in the 81st minute Rhondda City equalised again through winger Owain Mattix. Mattix, knowing his goal meant more than just football, ran over to the Rhondda fans and celebrated by raising his fist in the air and screaming "Rhyddid am byth!" (English: Freedom forever!), which has since been made the official motto of Walloonia. At 18:40, the full time whistle sounded, and Monmouth were confirmed as Royal League champions. The crowd became so loud they infamously registered a mini-earthquake.

Monmouth City's captain Ieuan Fraser lifted the trophy while screaming "Rhyddid am byth!", and even brought it over to the Rhondda City supporters' section. Instead of taunting the away fans, however, he dropped the trophy, raised his right hand in a fist just like Mattix had done only minutes ago, and again screamed "Rhyddid am byth!", to which the Rhondda fans cheered. Fraser gave a post-match interview about seven minutes later where he stated "It's become clear to me that this win tonight means more than Monmouth City. More than petty rivalries. More than even football itself. This victory is for Walloonia. We fight and die by our nation. Freedom forever!"

A mere two months later, the British government actually did send down military force to attempt to control the island, and Gwyndaf Llewelyn became the first commander in chief of the Walloonian civilian militia. League officials cancelled the 1974-75 season, and many of the league's players were released from their contracts to fight for Walloonia. Fraser himself was one of these players, and was tragically killed by a Royal Marine in the Battle of Rhondda in 1976, not far away from Rhondda City's home stadium.

After the Independence War ended, football attendance was at an all-time low. The league was renamed to League A, but Monmouth's Whitchurch Park especially struggled to sell tickets for games despite winning the league again in 1978-79. Four years after winning League A, Monmouth City became Rhondda-Monmouth FC and had to move stadiums due to struggles to fill Whitchurch Park. Still struggling, two years later they became Rhondda United, and seven years after that they became the Rhondda Welshmen. In 2019, plans were announced to bring the Rhondda Welshmen back to Monmouth by the 2020-21 season, after attendance finally became a non-problem.

Rhondda City, meanwhile, enjoyed much success in the seasons following, winning four of the first seven seasons of Walloonian League A. They never struggled for attendance, unlike most clubs at the time.

This game is recognised as an important moment in Walloonian history, and today it is not an uncommon occurrence to see the fans of opposing teams to sing songs such as Baner Dewi Sant, Calon Lān, or Men of Harlech together. The game still lives on in popular culture as well, due to events such as the mini-earthquake, the singing itself, Mattix's celebration, and Fraser's self-sacrifice for his country. The game in full is replayed on every Independence Day (11 July) on WNC, Walloonia's official government-funded broadcasting corporation. Numerous documentaries have also been made about the game, such as The Rise of Walloonia and The Day Walloonia Stood Still. For Independence Day in 2019, ESPN released a 30 for 30 short called The Song that Changed the World.

Event

1973-74 Royal League of Walloonia

Date

17 May 1974

Venue

Whitchurch Park, Mynwy

Man of the Match

Ieuan Fraser (Monmouth City)

Referee

Dylan Preece (Walloonia)

Attendance

12,540

Monmouth City

Fraser 42' (P); Samson 74'

Rhondda City

Aarons 57'; Mattix 81'

The Republic of Walloonia

Edited:

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