Gareth Bale (33) to retire from football with immediate effect

Wales captain Gareth Bale has quit as a professional football player with immediate effect. The most successful moments of his career were achieved at Real Madrid, where he won the Champions League five times. Bale ended his career at the American Los Angeles. The Welshman is known as a footballer who was grandiose at times and sometimes invisible for years. Let's have a look at the amazing career of the dazzling Gareth Bale.

From left-back to left-winger

Gareth Bale was born in Cardiff and his youth was pretty basic. He graduated from school and did a lot of different sports. He loved football, rugby and hockey. His aptitude for football didn’t go unnoticed and he made his debut at Southampton when he was 16 years old. One year later, in 2007, Tottenham Hotspur bought the 17-year-old defender for five million euros. In 2007, Bale failed to impress, and in 2008 he got injured. It seemed to be a lost cause, but this all changed in the fall of 2009, when Baley started playing regularly for Tottenham's first eleven.

Gareth Bale became a true star when he received a new shirt number in the preparations of the season of 2012/13: number 11. He shifted positions from left-back to left-winger. This appeared to be a masterful move: he scored 21 times in the first season.

Real Madrid buys Bale for record sum (100 million)

Real Madrid thought the Welshman would become the new superstar and paid a record sum of a 100 million euros. He became the most expensive player ever. He signed a contract for six years in 2013 and scored in his debut against Villareal. The following years appeared to be the best years of his career. He won the Champions League five times and had a great role in winning these titles. It went a little downwards in 2018; the left-footed player became less motivated and was benched several times. People noticed his dissatisfaction: he often said laid-back on the bench, fooled around with other substitutes and posted on social media that he would rather play golf.

In 2020, Real Madrid rented Bale out to his childhood love Tottenham and last year Bale briefly played for Los Angeles in the MLS. Real Madrid experienced a hard time getting rid of Bale because he himself didn’t want to leave. Most likely due to his salary of 17 million euros a year. Now that he has won prizes and made enough money, he is saying goodbye to football.

Magical moments

Gareth Bale conquered every football supporter’s heart with a number of unforgettable actions. You can find a list of the most magical moments of the superstar below.

The sprint
The most famous action of Gareth Bale is the solo from his own half against Barcelona in the Spanish Cup final. With unprecedented speed he passed Barcelona defender Bartra and finally scored. The world watched open-mouthed.


Overhead kick in CL finals

Real Madrid competed against Liverpool in the Champions League finals of 2018. Bale scored with a perfectly executed overhead kick from an almost impossible position. Marcelo passed the ball from behind him, which created the perfect opportunity to perform the overhead kick. The goal is viewed as one of the most beautiful overhead kicks in football.


Beautiful free kick

Bale was benched the last couple of years at Real Madrid. He seemed to be unmotivated, he would even rather play golf, but he didn’t necessarily want to leave, due to financial reasons. However, whenever Wales played he was always there and always prepared to fight for his country – as he showed in the World Cup in Qatar last year.

View all blogs