AS Wales made a glorious start to Euro 2016 in Bordeaux, Shane Brennan joined the pilgrimage supporters had waited nearly six decades to undertake...

JUST before 6pm French time, Hen Wlad fy Nhadau was sung with unprecedented passion, pride and vigour six kilometres from the centre of Bordeaux.

This was the first time our national anthem was heard at a major football tournament and it was heard by hundreds of million people around the world.

Manager Chris Coleman led an army of tens of thousands of people, who were determined to enjoy themselves and support the first Wales team to make it to a major championship finals since 1958.

Among them were 200 fans, myself included, who left The Turf pub in Wrexham on Thursday night to make a 20-hour journey to the small Aquitaine town of Angouleme before going on to see Wales ultimately send the nation in raptures with a 2-1 victory over Slovakia.

As the man sat next to me in the Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux said: “Chris Gunter at a major tournament! What a time to be alive!”

Pictures by Shane Brennan / NWN Media

Wales’ footballing spirit can be summed up by left-back Neil Taylor, from Ruthin, squaring up to Martin Skrtel, a man who can only be described as being something like a stock Slavic villain from a 1980s action film.

But the Welsh fans are also doing their country proud in France. There were tales galore of epic journeys and savings and overdrafts spent to get to what many of them described as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

For many people setting off from The Turf on Thursday, this journey seemed to be one they might never have seen.

“For almost 50 years I dreamed that I would see this. I told myself ‘I have to see Wales in a major tournament before I am 70’ and I missed that but by only a few months,” said Ieuan Evans from Flint.

The Wrexham fans set off in buses organised by the club to make the historic journey to Bordeaux.

Dawn wasn’t far off as we reached a motorway services near Maidstone.

As people wondered around smoking, going to the toilets and trying to grab a coffee a wiry figure appeared from the gloom and handed me a sticker that read CPD Wrecsam, No Pasaran, echoing the slogan of the left during the Spanish Civil War.

“There’s too much racism in football,” he said and as I read it, he seemed to plaster Maidstone in the anti-fascism stickers. As morning broke we made it on to the ferry to be greeted by a sea of red and as fans from across the country mingled and chatted.

John Williams, 52, said: “It’s pretty special really. Growing up, you never thought it would happen and I am so pleased to able to be a part of it.”

France was to follow – and follow and follow...

It turns out France is quite big and after the eight-hour journey across the host country, most people on the trip felt as if they had been through 90 minutes of top-level football.

Angouleme, is a town just a little bit smaller than Wrexham, so having 200 Welsh fans turn up on a sleepy summer afternoon was bound to get noticed.

But as the French fans celebrated their victory in the opening game against Romania, they were greeted by Welsh song as they streamed out of the bars and tabacs.

The crowds morphed into an international choir as La Marseillaise and Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau melted into Allez les bleus and Hymns and Arias.

The following day the Welsh left for Bordeaux and a ground that the term ‘in the sticks’ was invented for.

But that wasn’t going to dampen any spirits.

“It’s like Christmas. You grow up hoping that something like this would happen but you never quite believed it would,” said James Gardner, 20, from Garden Village,  And even from the early afternoon it was clear that the Welsh were in the ascendancy and so relaxed were the team that they had a walkabout with the fans before the game.

With the crowds making their way into the stadium there was a carnival atmosphere as Welsh, Slovak and French fans danced arm in arm to a brass band before the turnstiles.

Eight minutes into the game the Welsh really had something to sing about as Gareth Bale rifled in a perfect free-kick from the edge of the box and the Wales fans erupted in joy.

But the goal forced a reaction from the Slovaks who must have looked on this as the easy game of the group ahead of their Russian and English challenges.

The nerves of the Welsh fans – who outnumbered their Slovakian counterparts in the stadium – were shredded by the time the opposition scored in the 61st minute.

Then the man who had been at the heart of much Welsh song, Hal Robson Kanu, for most of the week managed to put the ball into the net with a shot that made it look like his boot was covered in cotton wool.

But did the Welsh care? Not a chance! As the final whistle went they burst into chants of “we are top of the league”. Back in Angouleme there was joy from both Celt and Gaul alike with locals growing familiar with the tunes of the Super Furry Animals and Tom Jones.

One bar owner, Gwenael Le Hecho from Groix Island in Brittany, said: “The difference between the Welsh and the French is that when the Welsh drink, they sing but when the French drink, they get sad. 

“It has been great having the Welsh here in Angouleme. We want more to come. They are really respectful people.”

And one hotel manager, Dominque Themines, who played host to many of the North Wales fans said: “People have been commenting all day about how great the Welsh are.

“They all say the Welsh are a people who like to live life.”

Speaking after the game, Wrexham FC club secretary, Geraint Parry said: “It was more than we could have dreamed of. 

“When they equalised and they were on top for a couple of minutes you were thinking ‘Oh good heavens!, but you know something went right our way and we got a great win. “There were so many Welsh fans. It was an amazing turnout. I think everyone enjoyed themselves. The Slovaks were great as well and it was a great, fantastic day.”

For Nedw Llewelyn, 27, from Llanuwchllyn, it was the atmosphere that made the occasion.

He said after Saturday’s game : “It was so good in Bordeaux last night and today all around town and in the stadium we were with French and Slovakians.

“It was amazing and to get a win was just brilliant.”