Gareth Frank Bale is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a right winger, most notably for Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid, and the Wales national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation and the greatest Welsh player of all time. Bale was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for his contributions to association football and various charities.
Bale began his professional career at Southampton, playing as a left-back before moving to Tottenham in 2007. From the 2009–10 season, under coach Harry Redknapp, Bale transformed into a winger. He received several individual awards in England, including two PFA Players' Player of the Year awards and three PFA Team of the Year inclusions. He won both the PFA Player of the Year and PFA Young Player awards in the 2012–13 season, becoming the second Premier League player to achieve this feat after Cristiano Ronaldo in 2006–07. In September 2013, Real Madrid signed Bale for a then world-record transfer fee of £85.1 million (€100.8 million).