WALES FOOTBALL CHIEF REVEALS HIS PRIDE AT HOW NATION HOSTED CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SUCCESS
One of the lead organisers of the Champions League final has said he hopes sceptics will be eating “humble pie” in the wake of the event’s resounding success.
Alan Hamer is the LOC (local organising committee) project director, who oversaw the delivery of the Champions League final in Cardiff which saw 200,000 fans from around the world descend on the city.
Mr Hamer has spoken of the unique challenges Cardiff presented, the atmosphere in the stadium after news broke of the London Bridge terror attack and Wales potentially hosting Euro 2020 matches.
Mr Hamer, 47, from the Swansea Valley, said: “I’m very happy that it all went as we had planned. We were confident that we were going to put on a good show, and we had worked incredibly hard to do it.
“There was a lot of pressure to deliver, but we are delighted at all aspects of the project.
“The whole project was like a jigsaw, lots of different pieces that all had to come together.
“We knew that if we got any part of it wrong, then everything else could be affected.
“The game is obviously the bit that gets talked about the most, but it’s about all of the different elements that came together,
“And if anything went wrong after the game, then that’s how people would remember it.”
With just days to go before the big match between Juventus and Real Madrid, a Spanish newspaper with close ties to Real Madrid published an article criticising Cardiff and warning of hotel and transport chaos.
At the time Mr Hamer hit back at the claims by the Marca newspaper stating “judge us on June 4”, and he now hopes any critics will have second thoughts about their doubts.
Mr Hamer said: “It’s been great to catch up with all of the media and the comments about the success of the event.
“Hopefully the success made a few people eat their words.
“I have always said that you should never praise or criticise an event until it’s happened.
“At the time I was confident in the people who were organising the project, so I wasn’t too bothered,” he said.
The vast majority of fans praised the city and the organisation of the event, including Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard who said the city had put on an “unbelievable show” with Rio Ferdinand stating the event had been handled “fantastically”, particularly in light of heightened security.
Mr Hamer added: “Those that criticised us last week, hopefully they will be eating humble pie.”
A resident of the city for around 25 years, Mr Hamer said the capital and the location of the Principality Stadium presented a unique set of challenges.
Mr Hamer said: “Cardiff is a little bit more complicated than say Berlin or Wembley.
“We are right in the middle of the city with a river on one side and the city on the other.
“The women’s final was a lot easier logistically because it was a bit more out of town.
“There was so many people coming in and out of Cardiff for the match, and it all worked like a dream.
“That was probably the biggest challenge in terms of logistics, getting everyone around the city.”
In light of the recent terrorist
attacks in London and Manchester, Mr Hamer said that plans did not change in the last few weeks before the big game.
He said: “We wanted the whole event to be safe and secure, that was the number one priority.
“People perhaps questioned all the road closures and road blocks, but I think people will now understand why they were there.”
The security operation involved the event was described as “unprecedented” and saw 2,000 police officers hit the streets in the week of the game.
Not long after the final whistle had gone, three men drove a van into pedestrians in London and began stabbing people – killing seven people and injuring 48.
Mr Hamer said: “It left people feeling a bit sick really. It just puts everything into perspective, that there are more important things in the world. “It was horrendous. “People were feeling really sad for the people involved, and it was bit of a rude awakening about what goes on.
“People have lost family and friends and ultimately that is really sad, it’s hard to talk about Champions League being a success in light of that.”
Although the big match finished at around 10pm, Mr Hamer said that him and his team worked through until around 4am on Sunday.
Once the raucous game had finished, the party moved out of the stadium and into the packed bars and clubs across the city.
But for Mr Hamer, who had worked on the planning for around two-and-a-half years, and his team, the celebrations were a bit more low key.
Mr Hamer said: “We had a few drinks afterwards with the Uefa team, and there was a big volunteer party at Cardiff City Hall last night.
“It’s been a very long project. It’s not really sunken in yet that it’s come to an end, because I’m obviously quite tired.
“It will be a little bit of sadness when it’s all over, and there’s a bit of relief too.”
He added: “So many people will now know where Cardiff is, and what the city can offer.”
Following the success of the final, reports have surfaced that Cardiff could be back in the frame to stage matches in the next Euro finals because of complications surrounding the building of a new stadium in Brussels.
The prospect has been welcomed by First Minister Carwyn Jones, although Mr Hamer said it perhaps too early to call.
Mr Hamer said: “We have not had any formal approach. We know that Brussels have had some issues, and I still think they have time to resolve them.
“If the position did change then we would need to speak to our shareholders, and see if they were willing to pursue it and to find out what Uefa’s plans are.
“There is no certainty at all really,” he said.
Although having worked tirelessly on the project, Mr Hamer is probably one of the few people in Wales yet to see the game at the time of writing.
Mr Hamer said: “I probably watched about 30 minutes of the game all together, but I missed all five goals and the sending off.
“I kept having to disappear off to meetings, and for one of the goals I was in the corridor and I could hear the fans cheering.
“Tonight [Monday] is the first night I will have had in awhile sat down and chilled out, so hopefully I can watch the game.”