Gareth Bale has announced he will as of now, retire from both club and international team. I know people have had mixed feeling regarding his talent and potential but I still think he will have left some memorable moment for us and some very memorable goal as well.

Happy retirement Gareth, you can enjoy golfing as much as you wnat now. ;)

Gareth Bale was amongst the most talented players in the world. Fans of the sport will bemoan that he could've been a legend, won accolades, etc...but honestly I'm really happy for him. He cared about Wales and probably Spurs back in the day, but afterwards wanted to enjoy life and not spend his years working out and training for a sport he'd ceased to love. Man got his bag, was good enough for his clubs to warrant his fees/wage, and is now looking out towards a chill 50+ years. Mad respect.

He retired many yrs ago, good riddance

@Footy Well, now its official. And while its true he stopped playing at the top level for a while, he managed some impressive stuff with Wales and even in the MLS.

I hate how people think Bale stopped trying because of all the meme when I think its fairly obvious the man got betrayed by his body more than anything else. Players relaying on their physicality tend to have shorter career, especially if you they are injury prone. His whole contractual situation with Real made this much worse, as the direction wanted to get rid of him (remember Covid hit even Real) and he had no reason to leave unless an offer as good came. Sadly, with his salary and his performance in recent years, that wasn't gonna happen. Real made him look like he was over way before he actually was and we saw shade of his talent with Tottenham when he went there on loan.

Honestly, it was Real who offered him such a good long term deal, I honestly think they should be blamed for making Bale end of career looking not all that glamorous.

True, players who rely on their physical attributes fall off quickly if they don't maintain their physical standards

The dude can ball still but just does not have the same pace, or desire to stay at the top. Never did like how he was treated at Real, but they punish players like no tomorrow if you fall anywhere out of favor.

He did make his own bed in some situations, so we all call it as we see it.

He should be set for life if he doesn't go crazy and now he can golf as much as he pleases.