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“We had a three-pronged vision. One: engage a nation. Two: deliver the best experience. Three: leave a lasting legacy.
“Well I feel we delivered on the three counts and throughout the four days, from the Champions League Festival down Cardiff Bay through to the final itself, we gave everyone a warm Welsh welcome.
“On point one we got as many people involved as possible from throughout Wales, as figures I will come on to amply demonstrate.
“On point two the Uefa hierarchy were happy. On point three, the FAW wanted the experience and publicity to leave Welsh football in a stronger position. I’d like to think we have done that, with more youngsters wanting to play, coach or referee.”
“We’re still recovering physically and mentally. Uefa’s president Aleksander Ceferin gave a speech at the pre-match dinner inside Cardiff Castle and said: ‘This is the hardest sporting event in the world to organise.’
“Having just done it I know exactly what he means! I had been to the three previous finals in an observer capacity and thought I had an understanding of just how big it was. A team of 30 of us went to Milan last time out for Real Madrid versus Atletico, spent five days there, and thought we had a handle on it.
“But it turned out to be 10 to 20 times bigger than I imagined. The public’s focus was on the final itself, but, starting from the Wednesday evening with the festival, this was a four-day event.
“The project team were working from 7am until midnight at times. I was so consumed by it that I even forgot to renew my Cardiff City season ticket in time. The General Election build-up passed me by.
“And, do you know, I even forgot to record the final – I still haven’t seen it!
“Thirteen FAW staff were working flat out in sixth gear. Uefa sent 250 staff to cover the event themselves, so that puts into perspective what we achieved.
“We had one chance to get it right, with the whole world watching us. This is an event like no other. In the Euros you get four games to get it right. When the Rugby World Cup came to Cardiff there were eight matches, the Olympics, too. Even for England versus Australia, there are five days to a Test match so if something goes wrong at first you can address it for the following day.
“The Champions League was a one-off chance, boom or bust. There was no hiding place. The FAW led but we had so many stakeholders and every one of those delivered on the project. They had previously brought the FA Cup, Heineken Cup, Rugby World Cup and Ryder Cup to Wales and at the outset I don’t think they realised how big this one actually was.”
“Wales has a population as a country that is smaller than that of Berlin. So it’s human nature for people to criticise when a city the size of Cardiff gets a major sporting event like this.
“The Uefa individuals who delivered it for us were taking a big gamble. Small nation, there hadn’t been a Champions League final here before.
“They were trusting Cardiff with their crown jewel. Well these individuals should be patted on the back. They placed their confidence in us and the most pleasing thing for me is that we didn’t betray that trust by letting them down.
“Uefa were very happy. They com-