Gareth Bale

Gareth Bale has announced his retirement from football after a glittering career with clubs including Real Madrid and more than 100 appearances for Wales.

“It’s a nice getaway from the hectic life of a professional footballer.” [stinging criticism in Spain](https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2019/nov/20/gareth-bale-and-that-wales-golf-madrid-flag-real-are-not-amused) for celebrating Wales’s qualification for Euro 2020 by cavorting with a flag that read: “Wales. “A time of change and transition, an opportunity for a new adventure.” “I am stepping back, but not away from the team that lives in me and runs through my veins,” Bale said. [Champions League final in 2018](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/may/26/real-madrid-liverpool-champions-league-final-match-report), the first of his two goals in Kyiv, influential in recording victory. His match-winning goal against Barcelona in the [2014 Copa del Rey final](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/apr/16/real-madrid-v-barcelona-copa-del-rey-final-live) brought similar acclaim. “After all, the dragon on my shirt is all I need.” “I don’t think it will be the last time you see Gareth in a Wales jersey,” Page said. In November 2021 Bale won his 100th Wales cap at home against Belarus, three years after eclipsing Ian Rush’s goalscoring record by scoring a hat-trick in China. “My journey on the international stage is one that has changed not only my life but who I am.” “I feel incredibly fortunate to have achieved my dream of playing the sport I love. Afterwards Rob Page, the Wales manager, was confident Bale would stay true to his word.

To my Welsh family,. My decision to retire from international football has been, by far the hardest of my career. How do I describe what being a part of ...

I am honoured and humbled to have been able to play a part in the history of this incredible country, to have felt the support and passion of the red wall, and together have been to unexpected and amazing places. How do I put in to words the way I felt, every single time I put on that Welsh shirt? How do I articulate the impact it has had on my life?

The Welsh footballer Gareth Bale has announced his retirement from the sport at the age of 33. In a statement released on his social media pages he wrote: " ...

“To my previous clubs, Southampton, Tottenham, Real Madrid and finally LAFC. “To show my gratitude to all of those that have played their part along this journey, feels like an impossibility. Playing for and captaining my country 111 times has truly been a dream come true. The highest of highs over 17 seasons, that will be impossible to replicate, no matter what the next chapter has in store for me.” I feel indebted to many people for helping to change my life and shape my career in a way I couldn’t have ever dreamed of when I first started out at nine years old. “From my very first touch at Southampton to my last with LAFC and everything in between, shaped a club career that I have an immense pride and gratitude for.

The Cardiff-born superstar began his career at Southampton before moving to Tottenham Hotspur in 2007. He then became the world's costliest player when he ...

"So, I move on with anticipation to the next stage of my life. "My journey on the international stage is one that has changed not only my life but who I am. Thank you to every one of you for being on this journey with me. In the 2012/13 season, he was named both the Premier League Player of the Season and the Premier League Young Player of the Season, a campaign which preceded his mega-money move to the Spanish capital. Following Wales' exit from the World Cup, Bale was quizzed on his future and he gave no inclination that he would retire from the game. "I feel incredibly fortunate to have realised my dream of playing the sport I love. "My wife and my children, your love and support has carried me through. "To show my gratitude to all of those that have played their part along this journey, feels like an impossibility. "To my previous clubs, Southampton, Tottenham, Real Madrid and finally LAFC. He scored 41 goals for his country and is widely considered one of the best, if not the best, Welsh player of all time. The left-back turned forward won 111 caps for Wales, leading them in Euro 2020 and at last year's World Cup in Qatar, calling his time in a Wales shirt "a dream come true". He then became the world's costliest player when he sealed an £85million move to Real Madrid in 2013.

Five Champions League titles at Real Madrid – the same number of European football's biggest prize that Barcelona have managed in their history and two more ...

Bale returned to Tottenham on loan for the 2020-21 campaign but it was another injury-hit season and he rarely featured in his final year at Real – although he did win a fifth Champions League winners’ medal from the bench. He signed to Los Angeles FC in June 2022 but he started only two MLS games and was a shadow of his former self as Wales returned to the World Cup stage in Qatar after a 64-year absence. The trophies came thick and fast and so did the goals – Bale eventually ended with 106 in a Real shirt – and he won his third Champions League crown in his home city in 2017. After scoring 31 goals for club and country in the 2012-13 season, it was clear that Spurs would struggle to keep Bale – and Real Madrid paid a world record fee of £85.3m to sign him on September 1, 2013. He was also named PFA Young Player of the Year and the Football Writers’ Footballer of the Year in 2013. Bale repeated his man-of-the-match performance in Spurs’ 3-1 second-leg win and his stratospheric rise saw him named PFA Players’ Player of the Year in 2011 and 2013 – just the fifth player to win the award twice at that point.

The Bernabeu club, who signed Bale from Spurs in a then world record £85.1million deal in 2013 and with him he won 19 trophies in total, paid tribute in a ...

Ashley Williams, another former Wales team-mate of Bale’s, said in an Instagram story: “It’s been an honour and an absolute pleasure to play with and against you during your amazing career. Wishing you all the best and hopefully you can get on the PGA soon. Thank you for all the memories, both on and off the pitch. “It’s been a pleasure to play with you both at club and country. Mason, who remained part of Antonio Conte’s coaching staff, tweeted: “It was a pleasure to both play with you and then coach you during your journey. “Your runs were a joy to assist! “His figure will always be linked to the history and legend of our club. He later returned to the London club on loan during the 2020-21 season before leaving Real permanently for Los Angeles FC. He told ITV: “For me he is one of the clutch players. He could run long distance, sprint at amazing speed, shoot with both feet, head it, dribble and his physique was incredible. I think the record just speaks for itself.” Delighted for him, good luck to him.”

The five-times Champions League winner has called time on his career weeks after captaining Wales at their first World Cup since 1958.

The Wales forward has retired with a glittering CV but it was his breathtaking style which set him apart from the rest.

And perhaps it was inevitable that for a player who played to feel, who specialised in crafting moments of perfection and wonder, the half-cocked, pedalled-down extended dotage was never going to suit him. And to think this was once a skinny £5m left-back who failed to win any of his first 24 games for the club and was initially kept out of the side by Benoît Assou-Ekotto. In spirit and attitude Wales is Bale’s team, and here again Bale departs having bequeathed a clutch of match-winning, heart-stopping memories. [Southampton](https://www.theguardian.com/football/southampton) gave him a start and Tottenham catapulted him to stardom, then it was in Wales red that he went on the greatest journey of all. [Bale signed for a world-record fee](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/sep/01/gareth-bale-real-madrid-transfer-tottenham), won everything there was to win and yet somehow lost something of himself too. What was the point in taking a free-kick unless you were going to leather it into the top corner? [2018 Champions League final](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/may/26/real-madrid-liverpool-champions-league-final-match-report) is probably his best-remembered goal. In so doing he single-handedly dragged a squad containing Steven Caulker, Kyle Naughton and Lewis Holtby to the verge of the Champions League. What was the point in running unless you were going to do it as jaw-droppingly fast as possible? Most Madrid players either got this and devoted themselves to a life of service (Karim Benzema, Luka Modric, Ángel Di María), or they left. Watch back some of his greatest goals and you can almost glimpse the school tie flapping behind him as he runs, a battered sponge ball sticking to his feet, the cautious teacher carrying a tray of orange squash across the penalty area. In hindsight, Cristiano Ronaldo in 2013 was simply too good and too brash to be surpassed or outdone.

Gareth Bale announced his retirement from club and international football on Monday, and now fans are jokingly calling on the Welshman to pursue one of his ...

Surely amongst the greatest Brits to ever play the game." LIV has emerged as a new-found rival to the sport's leading circuit the PGA Tour, receiving mega-money backing from the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund. Football is not the 33-year-old's only sporting love though, with the Welshman known to be an avid golf player and fan. After impressing for Spurs, Bale banked a mega-money move to European giants [Real Madrid](https://www.mirror.co.uk/all-about/real-madrid-cf). Despite his success, his time in Spain was often a love-hate relationship with the club's fans and the Spanish media, leading to him joining MLS side Los Angeles FC last summer. In a statement, Bale said: "After careful and thoughtful consideration, I announce my immediate retirement from club and international football.

Gareth Bale's retirement is a seismic shock for Wales, even if it was as long-inevitable as it was dreaded.

That was nothing compared to the fury in Madrid when, after sealing qualification for Euro 2020, Bale was pictured laughing next to his Wales team-mates who were holding a banner which read: "Wales. Thank you to every one of you for being on this journey with me. The same applies to his time at Real Madrid. In that order." And yet when it finally arrived, Gareth Bale's announcement of his retirement still came as a shock of seismic proportions. After scoring his spectacular overhead kick in Real Madrid's Champions League final win over Liverpool in 2018, his first thought after the final whistle was to grab the Welsh flag and drape it around his shoulders as he walked around the pitch for a lap of honour. Some dreamed that he might even have carried on forever; there were times when he did seem immortal. Like his team-mates, coaches and fans, Bale was left deflated by Wales' performances in Qatar and, as he waved goodbye to the supporters after the defeat against England, there was a sense that a more final farewell was on the horizon. As disappointing as Wales were in exiting last year's tournament at the group stage, it was fitting that Bale's final goal for his country would prove to be Wales' first at a World Cup since 1958. Having made his debut as a 16-year-old in 2006, Bale endured a testing introduction to international football as Wales sat outside the top 100 in the world rankings as recently as 2011. Bale was more than the leading character in a film of his blockbuster career; he was the man who kept writing his own barely plausible scripts and, most stunningly of all, kept bringing them to life with displays of otherworldly powers. Optimists clung to the fact that he had departed the World Cup with the vow that he would "keep going as long as I can and as long as I'm wanted".

Bale, a five-time Champions League winner at Real Madrid, ended a glittering career on Monday after winning 111 caps and scoring 41 goals for his country ...

“There’s a mixture of emotions for me. “His presence is something I would be really keen on, to keep him involved, but I’ll leave it up to Gareth and what suits him and his family. The roles might have changed slightly.

A Spanish journalist claims Gareth Bale "lacked empathy" following the Wales legend's retirement from football. On Monday, the 33-year-old confirmed he had ...

In that Order.'" But he lacked empathy, and he said it well in that unsympathetic (flag) 'Wales. [Gareth Bale's agent reveals exactly why he retired and says he 'could surprise everybody' with next move](https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/gareth-bales-agent-reveals-exactly-25936648) [Gareth Bale announces immediate retirement: Live updates and reaction](https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/gareth-bale-retirement-live-news-25932445) [Gareth Bale writes emotional letter to Wales as he quits football immediately](https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/gareth-bale-writes-emotional-letter-25932599) [Unseen footage shows special way Neco Williams found out Gareth Bale had scored as he couldn't bear to watch](https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/football/unseen-footage-shows-special-way-25586093) [Aaron Ramsey fails to return to club a month after Wales' World Cup exit as he struggles with what happened](https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aaron-ramsey-fails-return-club-25846471) [Gareth Bale net worth and his other business interests after announcing retirement](https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/gareth-bale-net-worth-business-25932906) "The rest is up to him. And it's a shame, because he had exceptional natural conditions for height, speed and his left leg. Let's stay with that.

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has thanked Gareth Bale for the “unforgettable” memories he has left behind after heading into retirement.

He will long be remembered for his involvement in some of the most remarkable moments of the past decade, including his unforgettable run in the 2014 Copa del Rey final in Valencia, his crucial goal in the 2014 Champions League final in Lisbon, and his brace in the 2018 Champions League final in Kiev, most notably the bicycle kick which will live forever in the minds of football lovers around the globe. On an individual level, he was named Best Player of the 2018 Champions League final and got his hands on the Golden Ball at the Club World Cup the same year. [European hat-trick for Spurs against Inter](https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/watch-tottenham-gareth-bale-tore-maicon-inter-to-shreds-champions-league/bltba5001e53fdf437a) and a Champions League final bicycle kick goal for Real – with Ancelotti looking back fondly on his time spent working with the Welshman at Santiago Bernabeu. [made history during his time in Spain](https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/real-madrid-add-bale-to-official-legends-list-despite-criticism-of-welsh-forward-during-his-time-in-spain/blt0d75c2f271e087cf), saying in a statement on the club’s [official website](https://www.realmadrid.com/en/news/2023/01/09/official-announcement-gareth-bale-farewell?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=organico): “Following Gareth Bale's announcement that he will retire from professional football, Real Madrid C. [hanging up his boots with immediate effect at the age of 33](https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/gareth-bale-announces-retirement-football-aged-33/blt124a5cd9f1b83732). would like to express its gratitude, admiration and affection for a true legend of our club and the world game.

It's to his enormous credit that he managed it at all with Madrid, and there were certainly games – Champions League finals among them – where he did. But in ...

The winner at West Ham was perhaps the best of the lot but the 86th- and 89th-minute strikes to earn 1-0 wins over Southampton and Sunderland in Spurs’ last two home games were perhaps the clearest examples of what Bale was about that season. In the summer of 2012 Spurs brought in Hugo Lloris, Mousa Dembele and Jan Vertonghen, the three players who would go on to form the spine of Pochettino’s team along with Harry Kane, who made his Premier League debut as a late sub in the first game of 2012/13 before going out on loan to Norwich. There had already been further clues in Spurs’ patchy early-season form that Bale was about to evolve into his lethal final form, most notably a stunning individual display in a raucous 3-2 win over eventual champions Manchester United at Old Trafford where Bale scored one after a blistering, muscular run that left Rio Ferdinand trailing in his wake and assisted the other two. Watching videos of his goalscoring antics that season you can sense two distinct noises in the build-up. But in that Spurs team it seemed to happen every single week. There are few things more beguiling in football than a largely humdrum team being elevated by the presence of a single other-worldly presence.

The 33-year-old made a record 111 appearances for the Wales men's team and scored 41 goals.

Guardiola, a keen golfer like Bale, said: “What a player. “There’s a mixture of emotions for me. Fantastic career, won a lot of things. “His presence is something I would be really keen on, to keep him involved, but I’ll leave it up to Gareth and what suits him and his family. “But there’s also a hint of sadness because it’s the last time we’ll see Gareth Bale putting a pair of boots on for Wales.” The roles might have changed slightly.

Bale - who announced his retirement in an emotional post on Monday - shot to stardom in 2010 after notching a second-half hat-trick against the reigning ...

They were beaten 4-0 in Spain and 1-0 at White Hart Lane. [BBC World Service](https://twitter.com/JohnBennettBBC/status/1612762480203206656?s=20&t=jyhj17HaBbBe77uxgoF75Q), Bassong said: 'He [Bale] just took the game on, on his own. I remember Samuel Eto'o asking me on the pitch: "Who's that?!" At San Siro, he lifted the game up, changed the whole scenario and gave us hope.' It was crazy to see how easy it was for him to do whatever he wanted to do. [who announced his retirement in an emotional post on Monday](/sport/football/article-11615297/Gareth-Bale-retires-football-Wales-Tottenham-Real-Madrid-legend-hangs-boots.html) - shot to stardom in 2010 after notching a second-half hat-trick against the reigning [Champions League](/sport/champions_league/index.html) holders in Spurs' 4-3 defeat.

Richard Keys has taken exception to Harry Redknapp's latest comments on former Tottenham star Gareth Bale.

McLeish claimed Redknapp was prepared to loan Bale but for injuries in the Spurs squad to prevent a deal. "He said he would get back to me and duly did 24 hours before Spurs were involved in a UEFA Cup tie, if my memory serves. "We heard a rumour that Harry might let him out. There was no way we were ever going to let him go, not a chance. He was just so natural." The 75-year-old continued to pay tribute to Bale's career and again reiterated he never considered letting him leave. Redknapp continued: "The profile of Gareth was everything that Daniel [Levy] wanted. He said: "No, never, ever was he going to leave. "Someone might have rung up and said 'can we loan him?' or something and then when he becomes a superstar, whoever the manager was, might tell people 'I nearly loaned him once'. [talkSPORT](https://twitter.com/talkSPORT/status/1612768715908464643) on Tuesday, Redknapp insisted there was never any chance Bale would leave, even on loan. Bale's first spell in north London didn't start well and it became an unwanted statistic that Spurs never won when he featured in a match. Keys claims he has heard a different story regarding the Welshman, who retired from football this week.

Bale won countless trophies, traversed Europe, took Wales to a World Cup and scored goals most British players could only dream of.

He refused to tear up a contract that his club had asked him to sign, preferring his own freedom of choice. For a time Bale was the club’s highest-paid player and he was barely playing. Were it anyone else, that may have caused a weary, bleak conclusion to a career lost on the wind. He proved that not just through the example he set on the pitch, but his humility around the teammates who became friends who became brothers. If there is one artery that runs through Bale’s career, one thing that makes him virtually unique, it is that he didn’t need club football at all. For the majesty of the finish, the magnitude of the occasion and the difference it made to the destiny of the match in combination, only Geoff Hurst’s hat-trick goal can eclipse it and Bale still has him beaten on two of the three. Bale was not just ill-fitting with those prerequisites – he was a willing antidote. Here was a slight, early-twenty-something winger from Cardiff who grabbed hold of the world and dropped it at his own left foot. More than he took any personal brand to the zeniths of European football, Bale took Wales there with him. Did Bale just become a little too refined, a little too Real? Bale did all that is ever asked of his breed: break through young; overcome early struggles; dominate in England; test yourself abroad and flourish; win trophies; position yourself front and centre of the biggest moments; lead your country. [David Beckham](https://inews.co.uk/topic/david-beckham?ico=in-line_link) never won the European Cup outside England.

Wales manager Rob Page reveals details of his conversation with Gareth Bale ahead of his retirement announcement; I told him I think its the right time to ...

He was the first through the building and he's a credit to himself and his family the way he conducts himself in the group. "We appreciate their forthrightness in coming to us when they did. "There's a mixture of emotions for me. When the time is right we'll talk about what capacity we keep him involved." You've just scored in a World Cup and got everything on your CV, what you've done for this country is unbelievable." It's not the news we wanted to start the new year with but we knew it was going to come one day. The roles might have changed slightly. "When you've got someone of Bale's stature and what he's done for Wales, the impact he can have - even being in the changing room and the impact he can have on the players, then I've got to take advantage of that. We just didn't know when it was going to come." He was so proud to put that jersey on. "I've now worked with him for a couple of years and when I was in the U21s, I could see from afar that he was passionate about playing for his country. "He's put Wales on the map globally for what he's done in European football at Real Madrid and what he did at Tottenham in the Premier League and then in the World Cup with Wales.

Manager Rob Page has paid tribute to "phenomenal" Cymru captain Gareth Bale following his retirement from football on Monday.

"It's phenomenal what he's done for us, not just from a footballing point of view but as a nation as well," said Page. Now having worked with him closely, it's another level again because he's so proud every time he puts on that jersey and it comes through with him. From a cultural point of view and Wales in general, everyone should be proud of what he's done for us.

Pep Guardiola once famously invited the newly retired Gareth Bale for a game of golf, and it seems the offer still stands for the Welsh legend to join the ...

while @Joe_Hugill tagged the official Paddy Power account when writing: "Could you give me a price on Gareth Bale to join LIV golf in 2023? [Champions League](https://www.mirror.co.uk/all-about/champions-league) titles and lead his country to a first World Cup in 64 years. @JackWFarrell wrote: "What are the odds we see Gareth Bale playing with LIV golf in the next year? And an approach from LIV may not be beyond the realms of impossibility, given their @Charlienicko11 tweeted: "Such a shame that Gareth Bale has retired from domestic and international football. "He was busy (first time around). Bale has never made any secret of his love of the fairways, and once famously risked the wrath of Madrid by holding up a flag which read 'Golf. Fantastic career, won a lot of things, and I think he represented Wales and won more than 100 caps - and now he will become a fantastic golf player." But now maybe he has time, I will invite him again." "Too expensive," joked the Spaniard. [Greg Norman](https://www.mirror.co.uk/all-about/greg-norman) will soon be unveiling him on the Saudi backed [LIV Golf ](https://www.mirror.co.uk/all-about/liv-golf)tour. [Pep Guardiola](https://www.mirror.co.uk/all-about/pep-guardiola) has jokingly claimed that [Gareth Bale](https://www.mirror.co.uk/all-about/gareth-bale) will now "become a fantastic golf player" following his shock retirement from football.

The Manchester City boss wants to be one of the featured groups in Gareth Bale's retirement golf bonanza.

It has morphed from a media narrative to self-fulfilling prophecy in recent years, and who better to talk Guardiola out of it than Mr. Less than 24 hours after the Welshman’s announcement, he is already receiving invites to tee it up from all across sports, including from Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, a mad-hatter-level soccer genius currently pushing to win his fifth Premier League title in the last six seasons. [announcing his retirement](https://twitter.com/GarethBale11/status/1612466979373461504) at the age of 33.

The former Wales captain called time on his glittering career on Monday saying he was moving on to "a new adventure"

He has become infamous for his love of the sport in recent years and even came under fire for it during his time at Real Madrid, with the Spanish press criticising him for the amount of time he spent on the golf course and not on the football pitch. "Everyone would sign for him and take them all the way through the pyramid to the Premier League, so they could all play together every week. Bale may choose to venture outside of sport altogether after calling time on his career. “They joked during the Euros that they wanted Gareth to buy a Welsh club lower down," he said. "It was Merthyr (who play in the seventh tier of the English league system), actually. Bale's mini-golf themed bar 'Par 59' opened on St Mary Street last year, with a second branch opening in Bristol in December. From buying a football club to becoming a professional golfer, here are just some of the routes he could go down after hanging up his boots. While many fans may not want to accept it, the former Wales captain said he is moving on "with anticipation to the next stage of my life". He certainly has more irons in the fire than most, having already overseen a sizeable business portfolio and excelled at another sport during his playing career. "I would love him still to be involved in some capacity, what that role is don't know yet," said Page. Bale and his Welsh team-mates even poked fun at the criticism by unveiling a flag that read “Wales. There would certainly be nothing to lose from Wales' perspective by hiring perhaps their best ever player and one who simply loves representing his country.