Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau verse." <poem>The land of my fathers is dear unto me, Land of poets and singers, and people of stature, Its warring defenders, so gallant and brave, For freedom their life's blood they gave O land of the mountains, the bard's paradise, Whose precipice, valleys are fair to my eyes, Green murmuring forest, far echoing flood Fire the fancy and quicken the blood For tho' the fierce foeman has ravaged your realm, The old speech of Wales he cannot o'erwhelm, Our passionate poets to silence command, Nor banish the harp from your strand.</poem> "A more literal translation is:" The old land
2003 Football League Second Division play-off Final construction works. Neither Cardiff or QPR had ever played a match at the ground. In previous years, the British national anthem God Save the Queen had been sung by during the pre-match ceremony. As Cardiff are a Welsh team, enquiries were made to the Football League regarding the Welsh national anthem Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau also being sung but was rejected with the Football League stating that the match was "a club game, not an international fixture." This was despite both anthems being played prior to the 1997 Football League Third Division play-off Final when another Welsh team, Swansea City,