page_title: Wales national football team home stadium
section_title: Move south and pre-war success (1900–1945)
hierarchical_section_title: Wales national football team home stadium / History / Move south and pre-war success (1900–1945)
caption_attribution_description: English: The Vetch Field a year after it had been last used by the Swans
context_page_description: The Wales national football team represents Wales in international association football. The team played its first match in March 1876 against Scotland before hosting its first home match the following year against the same opponent. The location selected for the fixture was the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham, the world's oldest international football ground still in use. The ground hosted all of Wales' matches until 1890, when a game was played against Ireland in the English border town of Shrewsbury. Wales played matches in several parts of the country, including Bangor, Cardiff and Swansea, over the following two decades.
  The advent of professionalism in Welsh club sides saw the construction of several purpose-built football grounds. Two, Ninian Park in Cardiff, which hosted its first international in 1911, and Vetch Field in Swansea, which hosted its first in 1921, shared Wales' home matches with the Racecourse for nearly a century. Although one match was moved to Anfield in Liverpool in 1977 as a result of crowd trouble, no other venue would host a Wales home international fixture between 1910 and 1989.
context_section_description: Wales returned to the Arms Park to face Ireland in 1902, meeting England at the Racecourse a month later. The match against England, which ended in a goalless draw, attracted a record Welsh crowd of around 10,000. When 1903's only home match was awarded to the Arms Park, 25 North Wales clubs signed a letter of complaint to the FAW and requested a meeting with the governing body. The decision stood, however, and a crowd of 6,000 witnessed a 1–0 loss to Scotland. Wales' matches were becoming popular, and Bangor sought to bring the side back by offering purpose-built stands at the town's cricket ground to host the 1904 match with Ireland. Gate control was an issue again as large numbers of spectators watched the game for free from nearby vantage points, including the roof of a local school and along a road overlooking the ground. Bangor made a loss of £17, despite a crowd of over 4,000, and has not held an international match since then.
  Wales' 1906 meeting with England at the Arms Park attracted a record crowd of around 20,000 to a 1–0 loss. This led the FAW to again look for venues in South Wales; a match against Ireland was played at the Athletic Ground in the Rhondda mining town of Aberdare in 1908. Workers in the local collieries started work an hour early to reach the match on time, and a large crowd of around 10,000 rewarded the FAW's decision. Although the Arms Park in Cardiff was used again in 1910 for a match against England, the emergence of Cardiff City as a professional football club and the construction of Ninian Park, its purpose-built football ground, made it the last Wales international held at a rugby ground until 1989. Ninian Park hosted its first international match on 6 March 1911 against Scotland. Built on the site of a former rubbish tip, the pitch often became littered with debris which had risen to the surface. Although attempts were made before each match to clear the surface, Scottish player Peter McWilliam received a career-ending gash to his leg from a piece of glass; Wales' Billy Meredith cut his knee during the same game. Matches alternated between Ninian Park and the Racecourse until the outbreak of the First World War.
  After the war, Wales' first competitive internationals were played at Ninian Park before Vetch Field hosted Ireland for its first international in April 1921. The Racecourse and Ninian Park became the main venues for the national side following the First World War. Although Welsh clubs such as Cardiff City and Swansea Town regularly drew record crowds, the national side struggled to attract similar attention during the 1920s. The FAW proposed to move a home match to Manchester or Liverpool in the hope of earning more money from a larger crowd, but were eventually dissuaded by representatives of Wrexham. A restructuring of the side under FAW secretary Ted Robbins and a switch to midweek matches, which allowed players to be released by their club teams more frequently, triggered a resurgence during the 1930s. The side won the 1932–33 British Home Championship, with the newly refurbished Racecourse attracting 25,000 fans (a record crowd in North Wales) to a goalless draw with England.
  Wales retained the championship the following year, and another record crowd of 40,000 saw the side defeat Scotland 3–2 at Ninian Park in the first Cardiff match in four years. Although Robbins was reluctant to agree to a match in the city due to his belief that the FAW could earn more in North Wales, pressure from Western Mail reporter Harry Ditton and the promise of a free publicity campaign changed his mind. England's September 1934 visit was the first Wales home match with an attendance of over 50,000, and the increased crowds at Ninian Park made it the choice for Wales' biggest matches. This was despite the main grandstand at the ground being destroyed by a fire in January 1937, when thieves used explosives to open a safe holding gate receipts from an FA Cup match. When competitive football was halted during the Second World War, Wales played eight unofficial matches against England; all but on
caption: Vetch Field (pictured in 2006) hosted its first international match in 1921.
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