Wales football fans release World Cup 2022 song 'We've Got The Red Wall'
An anthem recorded by a group of Wales superfans has been officially released ahead of the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
We’ve Got The Red Wall went into the iTunes download charts at number 104 on Friday (30 September).
The fans behind the rallying anthem hope it will make it to number one ahead of the tournament starting in November – in which Wales will play for the first time in 64 years.
Wales take on USA in their first match of the tournament on Monday 21 November.
Any money raised by the single will go to Gôl Cymru, the Wales football supporters’ charity, which helps underprivileged children in the countries the team plays in.
Singer-songwriter and Wales fan Andrew Dowling, 37, provided the main vocals and lyrics to the song.
Mr Dowling, from Ton Pentre in the Rhondda Valley, said: “I’m really delighted with how sales have gone so far.
"We’re reaching 104 in the download chart already and hopefully we can get that to rise.
“I really appreciate every person who has bought it, put it out on social media and got involved.
“Because getting involved is what it’s all about.”
Mr Dowling said he wrote the lyrics just after Wales’s play-off win over Ukraine in June when the team qualified for the World Cup.
He added: “This song is by the fans, for the fans, and is raising money for a charity who help vulnerable children right across Wales, and countries in Europe and the rest of the world when Wales play there.
“All the proceeds of this song are going to them.”
Gôl Cymru's founder, Tim Hartley, said: “I really love this song and we are grateful that the proceeds of it will go to helping us help the children.
“Let’s sing it with pride and make it the fans’ own anthem for Qatar.”
A group of fans were invited to a studio in Cardiff to put the finishing touches on the track. There they recorded chants and authentic crowd-like shouts of "Wales!", to be added to the single.
Among those who feature on the song is 11-year-old superfan Ioan Walters, from Crosskeys in Newport, whose mother drove him to the studio so he could be a part of the recording.
The song is bilingual and has verses in both English and Welsh, while the chorus is in English only.
Mr Dowling, who is learning Welsh, said it was important to him that the song included the country’s native language.
He said: “Anybody who is passionate about the Welsh language in general and the rise of the Welsh language should get out and buy it.
“It would be great to see a song containing the Welsh language and Welsh culture get into the iTunes charts.”
We've Got The Red Wall is now available to download and you can listen to it here.