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On New Year’s Day, 1993, the nation of Slovakia was born.

Twenty-six years on, a country which gained independence following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia has a strong economy, a high standard of living, and a football team that has qualified for two international tournaments in the past decade.

That team and its supporters descended on Cardiff on Sunday afternoon to take on Wales as the qualifying campaign for Euro 2020 got under way.

In a much-needed Welsh win , the teams were evenly matched for the most part. Off the pitch, however, the respective nations are polar opposites, at least according to a group of Welsh men and women who marched through the Welsh capital before the game.

Hundreds of them, in fact, all embarking on the two-mile walk from the city centre to the Cardiff City Stadium, hoping that it was just the beginning of a much longer journey.

(Image: Mark Lewis)

“The idea of Welsh independence is becoming a big thing; you can feel it, and I just wanted to do my part,” says Andrew Benjamin, who set up the social media group Welsh Football Fans For Independence in the summer of 2018.

“Being a big football fan, I noticed the connection between the Welsh fans and the support for independence. You see it more at away games - looking at all the flags that are dotted around the away ends when we go around Europe, you get that sense that there is now more of a call for it than ever.”

Hours before kick-off, in the shade of the glorious spring sunshine, Womanby Street in Cardiff was a sea of red.

Fans of all ages gathered to talk about an independent Wales, a notion that has been spoken of for years, but one that seems to be at the forefront of people's minds now more than ever as the United Kingdom continues to argue with itself over Brexit.

(Image: Mark Lewis)

The B-word may have accelerated the thirst for debate, at least, but this appetite for independence is not a direct result of wanting to cling to the insides of the European Union.

“I supported the idea of an independent Wales before Brexit, but there is a sense that it has changed now,” continues Andrew.

“But this isn’t about Brexit, as such. I want Wales to be an independent nation first and foremost, and once that is achieved then we can decide as a nation if we want to be a part of the EU.

“I’ve wanted independence since I was in school but I think there is a difference now - people are looking at it as a serious option; I believe it’s something than can happen.

“A great thing about supporting Wales is that you travel to smaller European nations who are independent, you spend some time there and you see how they are thriving. You can’t help but think: ‘we could do that; that could be us.’”

(Image: Mark Lewis)

Sunday’s opponents Slovakia have been an independent nation for 26 years and became a member of the European Union in 2004.

The country, which shares borders with Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Austria, ranked in the top 40 richest nations in the world as recently as 2017.

Its main exports are vehicles, electrical machinery, iron and steel, and as of February 2018 the country’s unemployment rate was 5.7% - less than the average level of an EU member state.

The notion of Welsh independence has attained prominence in recent weeks due to the ongoing political turmoil in Westminster over Brexit which has now been delayed until at least April.

Around one million people marched through the streets of London on Saturday, calling for the looming split from the European Union to be halted altogether.

With the ongoing uncertainty, Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price discussed the possibility of an independence referendum on Friday.

He said that if certain demands were not met by the UK Government, then the people of Wales should ask “whether we would be better to take control of our future as an independent member of a European Union, not a second-class region in a failing British state.”

(Image: Rob Browne)

If support for the idea of Welsh independence has grown in recent months, there is also a sense of realism attached to campaigners about what can be expected in the short-term.

“If there was a referendum tomorrow, we wouldn’t win,” concedes Andrew.

“A lot needs to change. Most people read and watch news, for example, that is made in England, and if the idea gets mentioned in the press then it’s generally negative.”

(Image: Mark Lewis) (Image: Mark Lewis)

If Welsh nationalism does have negative connotations, a lot of them seem to stem from the idea that for one to be passionate about Wales means he or she must therefore be negative about England.

Beatrice Davies lives in Cardiff and loves football and the idea of Welsh independence in equal measure. She makes one point absolutely clear.

“We are not anti-English," she says.

"This you see here today is a civil kind of nationalism - the word itself can have very negative implications. You see a lot of negative comments online about the idea of Welsh nationalism, but what I have found since being involved with this movement is how inclusive and open-minded everyone is.

“It’s started to snowball now and I do hope that at some point down the line it can happen. Even a year ago you might mention the idea to someone and they would laugh it off as rubbish, but now people are actually beginning to feel it.”

You would be hard pushed to find more passionate Welsh men and women than those who attend Welsh rugby games, but the strength of feeling among Welsh football fans towards Welsh independence is impossible to ignore; it may live in both sets of supporters, but it feels closer to the surface within those who follow the nation’s football team.

Beatrice, who is originally from Llanelli, agrees, to a point.

“When the Six Nations is on you get the same passion for the country of course, but not the same feel. But, being from Llanelli, I can tell you that in grassroots rugby it is there. This isn’t just a football thing.”

(Image: Mark Lewis)

Whether Brexit started or merely accelerated the desire for change in Wales, the message from those on the march is that they only want one thing, ultimately, and that is a conversation.

“It’s important to normalise this,” says Nick Stradling, who runs the You Tube channel Wales in the Movies.

He’s brought his six-year-old son along - his first experience of both politics and football.

“We want to normalise the conversation and move it away from certain taboos. I have English family members and I am not anti-English, and it’s important to make everyone aware that this isn’t what this is about.

“In sport, it’s not seen as a negative thing to be passionate and to be able to represent yourself as a nation, but in politics sometimes it is.”

(Image: Mark Lewis)

The numbers of the march swell as we get nearer to the stadium. The colour, the flags, and the passion become more and more obvious. One man makes a poignant point, amongst the fanfare.

Ashley Drake lives in Cardiff, and points out a familiar trend as we walk through the city.

“How many homeless people have we walked past on the streets in the last 10 minutes? What kind of country is this?

“It doesn’t have to be like this. We have massive amount of poverty in Wales. It’s all about giving people a purpose; giving people the basics of what a decent society should be like.”

Ashley agrees that at this moment in time, Wales needs a conversation, not an immediate referendum.

“I would say around 15 to 20% of people would vote ‘yes’ if we had a referendum tomorrow. What we want now is to talk about it.

"In Scotland, when the campaign for independence started, about 26% of people supported the idea. By the time the referendum came around, that had grown to 45%.

“If we have a referendum and the people say no, they say no. We don’t want to force people into anything, but we should have the opportunity; people should have the right to decide their own country's fate.”

(Image: Mark Lewis)

Before the march to the stadium began, Womanby Street was full of fliers and pin badges, all calling for the same thing. One of the main men behind the buzz is Siôn Jobbins, chair of the Yes Cymru group, who promote the idea of Welsh independence in order to “improve the way our country is governed”.

Siôn, from Aberystwyth, says Wales has regressed in recent decades to the point where the country now stands to gain by going it alone.

“Twenty-six years ago, our opponents today became independent. They are now a thriving wealthy nation that are standing on their own two feet.

“Back in the 1960s the Welsh economy was twice the size of Ireland’s and now Ireland’s is four times the size of the Welsh economy.

“There’s a definite momentum since Brexit, and there’s an increased feeling that we are being taken for granted in Wales.

“Look at the current mess in Westminster - how can anyone say we would do a worse job of running the country?”

The future of the UK and its ties with the European Union is yet to be decided.

Regardless of what decisions are taken in London over the coming weeks and months, it’s clear that there is a growing drive among a large number of people in Wales that a separation with one union may ultimately lead to a detachment from another, and that Wales, one day in the future, can stand alone.