By Owen Morgan
The final whistle on Wales women’s 0-0 draw with Germany had long cut through the cold night air.
Despite the plummeting temperatures, the home team were still lining the Swansea.com Stadium touchline some 20 minutes later.
Most were still in their playing kit, happily braving the weather rather than seeking the shelter of the changing rooms.
Hundreds of excited young fans had spilled down from the stadium’s packed East Stand to the advertising hoardings at the edge of the pitch.
They were eager to meet their heroines, who had just recorded one of the best results in the national team’s history against the former world champions.
Kayleigh Green signing autographs after the Germany game.
Red, yellow and green bucket hats were enthusiastically being thrust forward, along with shirts, flags and hastily smoothed-out scraps of paper.
Proof that old-school autographs have yet to be completely overtaken by the selfie as a valued memento of the young football fan.
Rest assured, dozens of mobile phones were also happily being handed over to the players in the hope of a treasured photographic keepsake.
Each fan’s request was met with equal enthusiasm by players who were wearing smiles as wide as those of their fans.
They could barely have been more open or accommodating to the requests of their fans.
Only when satisfied supporters started to turn and head for the stadium exits did the players begin to drift back across the pitch and head down the tunnel.
Josie Green takes a selfie with Welsh fans after the Germany game.
It was a genuinely heartwarming scene on a cold night.
Especially so when you consider that exactly 102 years to the day the match was played, the English FA barred women’s games being played on FA-affiliated football grounds.
At its meeting in London on December 5, 1921, the FA stated: “The game of football is quite unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged”. The ban would last for half a century.
A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since those days. Women’s football carried on despite the efforts to ban it and indeed has gone from strength to strength in recent years.
Jess Fishlock signing autographs for Welsh fans.
The national team, past and present, has more than played its part in the growth of women’s and girls’ football in Wales.
The scene at Swansea on Tuesday night is evidence of the huge amount of work the FAW, the team’s management, and the players themselves do in order to promote the women’s game.
Before the hugely encouraging 0-0 draw with group winners Germany, results during this inaugural Women’s Nations League campaign had not gone as the team would have hoped.
Yet, despite the match effectively being a dead-rubber, the fans still turned out in their numbers to watch the likes of Jess Fishlock, Sophie Ingle and Rachel Rowe in action.
Sophie Ingle slides in a tackle in front of a packed East Stand at the Swansea.Com Stadium.[
In fact, Rowe is something of a local hero in the city where she used to live and play for Swansea City Ladies and is an example of what can be achieved in the modern women’s game.
The Rangers star worked as a civil servant at an office just a mile-and-a-half away from the Swansea.com Stadium before giving up her job and eventually becoming a professional player with Reading.
The fans who turned out to see Rowe and her team-mates were rewarded with one of the national team’s best ever results against a team who had won the reverse fixture 5-1 in October.
Indeed, this wasn’t one of those hang-on-by-the-skin-of-your-teeth 0-0 draws, either. Wales dominated large periods of the game, particularly in the first half when Rowe hit a post.
Rachel Rowe prepares to put in a cross against Germany.
No-one could have argued had the home side emerged victorious against the sixth-ranked team in the world.
It was fitting the match was played in at the Swansea.com Stadium, where the home club has also made a significant commitment to women’s football this season.
The start of the 2023/24 league campaign saw Swansea officially bring the city’s women’s football team under the club’s umbrella.
Formerly known as Swansea City Ladies, the team is now called Swansea City AFC Women.
As part of the move, 16 players have signed semi-professional contracts with the club.
The Swansea.com Stadium also recently hosted the Genero Adran Premier match against Wrexham.
In the run up to that match, Swansea City chairman Andy Coleman took the opportunity to emphasise the club’s commitment to the women’s game.
Ceri Holland on the attack against Germany in front of a packed East Stand at the Swansea.Com Stadium.
Coleman said: “We have engaged with local girls and boys football clubs, youth football programmes, Swansea area schools, the City Council and the Swansea City AFC Foundation to help create an occasion and atmosphere this team deserves.
“We are incredibly proud to see our women’s team back in action at the stadium.
“It will be the first time they have played here since turning semi-professional and being fully integrated into the club in the summer – a move we want to ensure becomes a seminal moment for Swansea City.
“A number of these players and staff have dedicated their lives, and made considerable sacrifices, to represent and be part of Swansea City Women.
“For them to walk out at our stadium in front of thousands of fans, something many might never have thought would be possible, will hopefully help inspire the next generation of footballers in our community and in Wales.
“As a club it is our duty to raise awareness and the profile of the women’s game and ensure it gets the recognition it deserves.”
Jess Fishlock in action against Germany.
The match against Wrexham, who themselves are taking great strides to develop the women’s game, attracted a crowd of just under 4,000.
Tuesday night’s international clash with Germany brought in 5,982 – a record attendance for a women’s national home fixture outside of Cardiff.
Scenes like those witnessed after the final whistle at Swansea the other evening can only strengthen the bond between the national team and supporters.
And perhaps more importantly, they can only serve to promote the women’s game and attract more youngsters – both female and male – to football throughout Wales.
Ella Powell poses with a fan for a selfie.