Local football club teams up with Eisteddfod to celebrate community and culture

A football club from Wrecsam have partnered with the Eisteddfod to create a community poem celebrating the sport, as well as shared heritage, culture, identity and unity.

Bellevue FC was formed in 2015 by a group of friends who met in Bellevue Park, the site of the 1912 Wrecsam Eisteddfod.

The Club became Wales’ first multi-ethnic and inclusion specific league registered football club, and have won multiple awards for their community work as well as being highly commended at the recent BBC Wales Make a Difference awards.

Community

The last 10 years have seen over 40 nationalities play for the club, providing an international flavour for the team embedded in its community and immersed in Welsh culture.

The club, who took part in the Eisteddfod Wrecsam Proclamation parade last year, were invited to take part in a community project.

Club Chairman Craig Colville said “We were really keen on having a project that married together the culture and history of the Eisteddfod to our club culture, ethos and motto ‘Un Clwb, Un Pobl, Unedig’ (One club, one people, United).

“After much debate we decided that we would have a session where we would talk about the history of the Eisteddfod, what it means, why it exists and some of the more interesting stories related to it as a way to inspire our players from all age groups to write a line or two about what the club motto and what the club itself means to them.

“A poem would then be curated using the content generated from the session as well as works submitted by players who were unable to attend.

“What we ended up with was something quite moving and special.”

Meeting

The session took place in the very room at the Wynnstay Arms where the FAW held their first ever meeting.

The history and purpose of the Eisteddfod was discussed as well as the important role of a war refugee, Eugeen Vanfleteren, in the making of one of the most recognisable and talked about items in Welsh and Eisteddfod culture.

Originally from Flanders, Eugeen Vanfleteren, carved the famous 1917 ‘cadair du’ for that year’s winner, Hedd Wynn.

That year, the Eisteddfod was held in Birkinhead, with many Welsh speaking economic migrant communities living on the Wirral at the time.

It was on Wrexham General Station that ‘Hedd Wynn’ (real name Ellis Humphey Evans) first met his friend Simon Jones on their way to army training in Litherland.

Tragically Simon would go on to witness the tragic death of Ellis on the front line on the first day of the Battle of Passchendaele.

Universal language

Club co-founder and first team coach Delwyn ‘Sheep’ said: “Football is a language everyone can speak and working on this piece, where we cross language and culture to create an awdl that is specific to us and defines us in a message to all of Cymru was exactly the type of challenge that we rise to.

“In the words of our own players:

“Was it audacious?”

“Maybe.”

“But doesn’t that colour fit us so well.”

Club Trustee and poet Evrah Rose collated the wording provided by the players and said: “Football, poetry, and the Eisteddfod, what a brilliant combination.

“Curating a poem from so many player voices and experiences was quite the challenge, and I’d definitely say it was a labour of love, but one I’d happily do again!

“What their testimony proves is just how passionate and creative they are as a group and why a football club like Bellevue FC is so important for our community.

“It’s been such an enjoyable and inspiring process. I feel the final piece speaks for itself.”

Bellevue FC have expressed they would like to give a diolch yn fawr iawn to Iwan Berry who kindly voiced the Cymraeg version of the poem.

Un Clwb, Un Bobl, Unedig

Pan ddes i at Gymru
When I came to Wales
Darganfyddais y byd
I found the world
fy nghartref oddi gartref
My home away from home
dim mewn dinas na chae
Not just in a city or a field
Ond yn wynebau’r rhai a fu’n unwaith dieithr
But in the faces of the people who were once strangers
Ac erbyn rŵan yn deulu
And are now family

Mae’n bopeth
It’s become everything
A dwi’n dysgu rŵan tydi popeth dim yn air digon mawr
Yet here I learn that everything isn’t a word big enough
I ddisgrifio be mae’r clwb yn golygu
To describe what this club means
Dyma le dwi’n mynd i gwrdd â chalonnau cyfateb
It’s a place I go to meet hearts like mine
lle mae fy ngwahaniaethau’n neud fi’n perthyn
Where my differences are why I belong
Oherwydd dyma lle dwi’n barod yn rhan o’r mosaig hyd
Because here, I’m already a piece of the magic and mosaic
Doedd dim rhaid i mi geisio ffitio i mewn
I didn’t have to try to fit in
rwn ni ffitio mewn yn barod
Because I already did

A’r hyn sy’n brydferth yw – des i am bêl-droed
And what’s beautiful is – I came for football
Ond gadewais gyda mwy na gêm
But I left with more that a game
Cefais berthyn
I found belonging
Cefais fy llais
I found my voice
A fy stori
And my story

Mae’r clwb hwn yn dal cryfder anorchfygol un bobl
This club holds the unbreakable strength of one people
Grym unedig gydag un nod
A united force with one goal
Cymuned wedi’i seilio mewn cariad, gwydnwch a pharch
A community grounded in love, resilience and respect
Mae’n bot toddi o ddiwylliant a chynhwysiant rhwymol wedi’i blethu â chyfeillgarwch
It’s a melting pot of culture and binding inclusivity woven with friendship
Lle mae’r ifanc a’r hen yn sefyll ysgwydd wrth ysgwydd
Where the young and old stand shoulder to shoulder

Nid chwarae yn unig
We don’t just play
Da ni’n tyfu ac yn dysgu, ac ar adegau, ie, rydyn ni’n baglu
We grow and learn and at times, yes, we stumble
Ond byth sefyll nac cwympo ar ein pennau ein hunain
But we never stand or fall alone
oherwydd nid yw teulu’n eich gadael chi ar ôl
because family doesn’t leave you behind

Y clwb
This club
Mae wedi gwneud i mi gwestiynu popeth roeddwn i’n meddwl fy mod i’n ei wybod
Its made me question all I thought I knew
A’r ateb a gefais oedd
And the answer I found was
Fi
Me
Ni oedd e
It was us
Undod oedd e
It was unity

Mae pob eiliad yn dod â gwersi newydd lle
Every moment brings new lessons where
Lle mae rhoi eich gorau ddim yn ddatganiad
Giving it your all isn’t just a statement
Mae’n guriad calon pob gêm
It’s the heartbeat of every single match

A wow – da ni’n teimlo’r cyfan
And man-don’t we just feel it all
Y llawenydd, y boen a’r hapusrwydd
The joy, the ache and the happiness
Pwrpas y frwydr
The purpose of the fight

Felly gallwch chi daflu’r byd atom ni
So you can throw the world at us
Dewch â phob storm sydd gennych chi
Bring every storm you have
byddwn ni bob amser yn dychwelyd, y flwyddyn nesaf – a’r blynyddoedd sy’n dilyn
But we’ll always return, next year-and the years that follow

Esgidiau di clymu â phwrpas
Boots laced with purpose
Calonnau di’u gwnïo â gobaith
Hearts stitched with hope
Yn barod i redeg eto
Ready to run again

Awelon oer yn curo ein clustiau
Cold breezes catching our ears
Crysau aur yn amsugno’r glaw
Golden shirts soaking up the rains
Ydyn ni’n feiddgar?
Are we audacious?
Efallai…
Maybe…
Ond onid yw’r lliw’n ein gweddu’n dda
But doesn’t that colour fit us well

Dim jest perthyn yma’n unig ‘da ni
Because we don’t just belong here
Ni’n adeiladu yma
We build here
Ni yw’r goeden a’r gwreiddiau
We are the tree and the roots
Yn ymestyn yn feiddgar yn ddwfn i’n cymuned
Boldly stretching deep into our community
gyda’n canghennau’n llydan
with our branches wide
Ni yw’r had a dyfodd o gyfeillgarwch a syniadau
We are the seed that grew from friendships and ideas
y dail ar wyntoedd etifeddiaeth Wrecsam yn cario i bob cyfeiriad
The leaves of legacy Wrecsam winds carry in every direction

Ennill, colli neu’n gyfartal
Win, lose or draw
Ni’n codi ac yn falch felly
We rise and proudly so
Wastad yn ymddangos
We always show up
Oherwydd mae hyn i ni yn fwy na chwaraeon
Because this for us is beyond sport
Pridd, cysylltiad a hanes ydyw
It’s soil, connection and history
Ni yw’r rhai di-ofn a’r dyfodol
We are the fearless and the future
Yn gwasgaru uchelgais fel byst gôl siwmperi
Scattering ambition like jumpers for goalposts
Diwylliant unigryw
A culture that is simply one of a kind
ac ôl troed sy’n unigryw am byth
A footprint forever unique

Un Clwb
Un Bobl
Unedig

Ni yw Bellevue FC
We are all Bellvue FC