Gareth Bale announces retirement from professional football

Gareth Bale makes his professional football retirement official.

At the age of 33, Gareth Bale declared his retirement from the game of professional football.Bale revealed the unexpected news on Monday in a statement shared on his social media accounts.

It ends a career in which Bale excelled for Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid, and LAFC while also cementing his place among the greatest Welsh footballers in history.

Bale released a statement in which he declared, "After long and thoughtful thinking, I announce my immediate retirement from club and international football."

"I feel tremendously lucky to have had my dream of participating in the sport I love realised. I can honestly say that it has given me some of my best times. No matter what the next chapter has for me, I won't be able to match the highest of highs throughout 17 seasons.

Bale began his club career at Southampton, where his performance led to a May 2007 transfer to Tottenham. He began his career with Tottenham as a left-back but was soon moved to a position on the left of the offensive line, where he quickly became one of the best players in the world.

He received numerous individual honours for his work with the Premier League squad, and in September 2013, Madrid acquired Bale on a six-year contract for an amount that at the time set a global record: €100 million.

Bale won five Champions Leagues, one Copa del Rey, and three La Liga championships in Spain (2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2022). He made some historic contributions for Los Blancos, including his breathtaking overhead kick in their 3-1 victory over Liverpool in the 2018 Champions League final, despite being frozen out in the latter years of his Madrid deal.

He returned to Spurs on loan during the 2020–21 season as he neared the end of his Madrid career. In June 2022, at the end of his contract, he left Madrid after one final season there and signed a one-year deal with LAFC.

He made 14 appearances in the country. His most famous performance was in the MLS Cup final, where he scored a header in the 128th minute of extra time to draw the game against the Philadelphia Union at 3-3.

Due to that, the game had to go to penalties, where LAFC won their first major championship.Bale continued, "To express my thanks to everyone who has contributed in some way along this road feels like an impossibility. "I owe a lot of individuals for changing my life and forming my profession in a way that I never could have imagined when I first began out at the age of nine.

"The impact you have had on my past clubs Southampton, Tottenham, Real Madrid, and eventually LAFC, all of my managers and coaches, backroom staff, teammates, all of the passionate supporters, my agents, my fantastic friends, and my family, is incalculable," said the player.

In his final game of football, Bale represented Wales in their 3-0 loss to England at the 2022 World Cup, earning the final of his record-breaking 111 caps. He led the squad into that contest, and he sent a separate statement to his "Welsh family" informing them of his retirement.

He ends his international career as the male player with the most caps for Wales, having made 111 games and scoring a record-breaking 41 goals. He led the team's campaigns at the last World Cup, the Welsh men's team's first appearance in the World Cup since 1958, as well as in Euro 2020 and the semifinals of that tournament. 

In a statement, Bale said, "My experience on the global stage has altered not only my life but also who I am. I've had experiences that are unlike anything else I've had thanks to my good fortune in being Welsh and being chosen to play for and lead Wales.

I feel honoured and humbled to have had the chance to add to the history of this beautiful nation, to have experienced the love and support of the red wall, and to have gone on unexpected and amazing journeys with you.

What Bale has planned after that is not yet known. In his retirement announcement, he stated, "I look forward to the next stage of my life. A chance for a fresh experience, a moment of transition and change.

He declares that he will closely monitor his Wales team whatever of the shape that new adventure takes.

So, he said, "I am stepping back for the time being, but not away from the team that lives in me and flows through my veins. After all, I only need the dragon on my shirt.