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Watch: World famous choir record tribute to celebrate Wrexham’s success

20 May 2023 3 minute read
Treorchy Male Choir perform Yma o Hyd

One of Wales’ greatest choirs Treorchy Male Choir have recorded a stunning version of Yma o Hyd to celebrate Wrexham AFC’s return to the football league.

The choir posted a video of their sublime rendition of Dafydd’s Iwan’s defiant battle cry on Facebook and it is as sublime and stirring as you would imagine.

Celebrating the efforts of the club and their Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, the post read: “Treorchy Male Choir would like to congratulate Wrexham AFC on their return to the football league after an absence of 15 years.

“The club, bought by Hollywood stars, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in February 2021 secured their place back in the football league following their recent win over Boreham Wood.

“Great news for Welsh Football and Welsh sport in general! Yma O Hyd!

“Llongyfarchiadau Wrecsam!”

The extraordinary reach of Yma o Hyd hit fever pitch last month with a wonderful video from popular YouTuber Benny Blows.

Reaction videos are hugely popular on the global video platform – and his reaction to hearing Yma o Hyd for the first time captivated everybody.

After the song was recommended to him the YouTuber gave Yma o Hyd a spin for the first time and by the end of the video he was close to tears and belting out the chorus passionately with a clenched fist and a great grasp of the language and pronunciation of the lyrics.

As the song fades out, Benny is clearly moved, starts clapping and says: “We’re gonna give it 10, then we’re gonna give it another 10 and then we’re gonna give it 10 more!”

I think we can surmise from this he clearly loves it!

The video, which contains some offensive language, can be found here.

The fantastic reaction from YouTuber Benny Blows to hearing Yma o Hyd for the first time

Dafydd Iwan must be pinching him at the astonishing resurrection of the song and how it has made its mark on the global stage.

The folk singer and campaigner belted out Yma o Hyd as Jo Cordina regained his World Boxing title, while days before, the official anthem for Cymru’s 2022 FIFA World Cup campaign won a Wales Folk Award for Best Original Welsh Language Song, while the musician also won the Best Solo Artist accolade.

The song, by Dafydd Iwan and Ar Log, was originally released in 1983 and was remastered last year with the voices of over 70,000 members of the Red Wall recorded during the World Cup play-off matches.

The track also features the voices of the players singing the emotionally charged song in their post-match celebrations with Dafydd Iwan on the pitch following their 1-0 victory over Ukraine, which sealed a place in the World Cup Finals for the first time since 1958.

Yma o Hyd was also played at the World Cup opening ceremony in Qatar as the flags and football shirts of all the competing nations were taken out onto the pitch at the Al Bayt stadium in Doha.


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