What does the neck message mean?
The Wales national team display the Gorau Cwarae Cyd Chwarae message on the back of their neck. In English, it means “The best game is team play.” The story of the motto is as follows:
The Football Association of Wales was formed in 1876 in the Wrexham area by a group of businessmen who wished to challenge the Scots to a football match (the first official match between England and Scotland had been in 1872).
In 1951, to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the association’s founding, the association was awarded a coat of arms. The new crest was designed to be used on match jerseys and all other items. Prior to this, a generic ‘rampant dragon’ had been used.
The FAW asked Mr.H.Ellis Tomlinson to design the coat of arms which had been awarded to the association by His Royal Highness King George VI. Tomlinson was a recognized expert in the field of heraldry and had written many books and manuscripts on the subject. He designed many council coats of arms, including that of Wrexham and that of Western Australia. He was a teacher of French at Poulton-Le-Fylde in Lancashire and taught at Baines’ Grammar School.
The design incorporated a similar ‘rampant dragon’ but surrounded by eleven leeks on a green background within a shield to symbolize the eleven players on the football pitch. Beneath the crest was the association’s new motto: ‘Gorau Chwarare Cyd Chwarae’. The translation is, in effect, ‘Team play is the best game’, which means that playing as a team will bring the best results.
