Gareth Bale Retires From Football; Why He Is Regarded As UK Greatest Soccer Player

After a stellar career, Welsh legend, Gareth Bale has announced his retirement from the the beautiful game at age 33.

With the announcement of his retirement from national and club football this afternoon he has been hailed by many as the United Kingdom’s greatest football player.

The speedy former Real Madrid star who won 5 UEFA Champions Leagues made more appearances (111) and scored more goals (41) than any other player in Wales men’s history.

Many analysts believe that he is UK’s greatest player so far to even surpass the iconic David Beckham who is seen by many as the figure of football lately.

He is the only British to have also won the UEFA Champions League five times.

Here are some of his records so far. Bale won:

1. the UEFA Champions League 5 times. The joint-2nd most in history.

2. scored more goals than Ronaldo De Lima had more assists than David Beckham and won more trophies than Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid.

3. He also guided his country Wales to the Euros for the first time ever and the World Cup for the first time in 64 years.

4. In the 2012 – 2013 Premier League Season, he scored nine goals from outside the box. This is the most a player has netted from outside the box in a single season in the competition’s history.

5. In 2013, Gareth Bale became the first player in football history to be signed for €100m when he joined Real Madrid from Tottenham Hotspur.

6. Gareth Bale is also the only player to have scored a match-winning goal in two separate UEFA Champions League finals (scored in 2013-14 and 2017-18).

7. Bale played 665 matches and scored 226 goals while assisting 161 times and won 22 trophies.

A breakdown of his trophies are below:

5 x Champions League; 4 x FIFA Club World Cup; 3 x La Liga; 3 x UEFA Super Cup; 3 x Spanish Super Cup; 1 x Spanish Cup; 1 x English League Cup; 1 x MLS Cup

His former clubs Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspurs have also reacted to his decision.

Spurs tweeted:

Thank you for everything, @GarethBale11 💙

Congratulations on an incredible career. pic.twitter.com/VTjcAqC07D

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) January 9, 2023

While Real Madrid said: