Retirement from professional football - Gareth Bale

 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 that saw Bale shine for Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid, and LAFC while also solidifying his place among the all-time greats in Welsh football.

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

"I consider myself tremendously lucky to have realized my dream of participating in the sport I adore. I can honestly say that it has given me some of my best times. No matter what the next chapter has for me, it will be hard to match the highest of highs over the course of 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 honors for his work with the Premier League squad, and in September 2013, Madrid acquired Bale for a then-record fee of €100 million on a six-year contract.

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.

In the latter stages of his Madrid career, he returned to Spurs on loan for the 2020–21 season. 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.

In his 14 games in the States, his 128th-minute extra-time header in the MLS Cup final, which helped LAFC tie the Philadelphia Union 3-3, was his most significant contribution. 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.

"To my former teams Southampton, Tottenham, Real Madrid, and lastly LAFC, all of my managers and coaches, backroom staff, teammates, all the devoted supporters, my agents, my fantastic friends, and family, the impact you have had is indescribable," he said.

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.