GARETH Bale has announced his retirement from active football after a successful career, especially at club level.
The 33-year-old Wales captain is his country’s most-capped men’s player with 111 appearances and he won numerous major trophies with Real Madrid.
“After careful and thoughtful consideration, I announce my immediate retirement from club and international football,” Bale, whose last club is Los Angeles FC in the United States of America, announced on social media today.
“I feel incredibly fortunate to have realised my dream of playing the sport I love.”
Born in Cardiff, Wales, Bale’s professional career spanned spells at Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid before his move to Los Angeles last year.
He was his country’s star player as they reached the 2016 and 2020 European Championships before ending his career in Wales’ first World Cup since 1958 at Qatar 2022.
“It (football) has truly given me some of the best moments of my life,” Bale added.
“The highest of highs over 17 seasons, that will be impossible to replicate, no matter what the next chapter has in store for me.”
Bale is Wales’ all-time top scorer with 41 goals, and has won more UEFA Champions League titles than any other British player in football history.
He joined Real Madrid from Tottenham Hotspur in September 2013 for a then world record transfer fee of €100m and went on to win five UEFA Champions League and three La Liga titles in nine glorious years.
