Gareth Bale is an international footballer who was born on July 16, 1989 in Cardiff, Wales. He attended Eglwys Newydd Primary School and then Whitchurch High School, Cardiff, where he was a football, rugby and hockey player, as well as a distance runner. Being superior in football, his physical trainer made Gareth Bale play one-touch football using only his right-foot. In 2005, even though he was just 16 years old, he helped his school’s Under-18 side win the Cardiff & Vale Senior Cup. In the summer of the same year, he left the school with an A in Physical Education among his General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) results.
Gareth Bale started his international career by playing for the Wales Under-21 national team at the end of the 2005-06 season. On May 27, 2006, when he was just 16 years and 315 days old, he debuted as a substitute for the national senior team in a 2-1 winning match against Trinidad and Tobago. As a result, Gareth Bale broke Lewin Nyatanga's record of being the youngest Welsh to play an international match. On October 7, 2006, he also became the youngest player to score a goal for Wales in the Euro 2008 qualification match against Slovakia. Gareth Bale then won the Carwyn James Award for the BBC Wales Young Sports Personality of the Year in December 2006. On March 28, 2007, he scored his second goal for Wales in a 3-0 win over the San Marino national football team. As of September 2008, he has won 13 international caps and scored twice.
Gareth Bale was trained by the Southampton’s satellite academy in Bath, and on April 17, 2006, when he was just 16 years and 275 days old, he become the second youngest player after Theo Walcott to play for Southampton in a 2-0 winning match against Millwall. On August 6, 2006, he scored his first league goal with his left foot during a free-kick in a 2-2 draw match against Derby County. Gareth Bale developed a reputation as a free-kick specialist when he scored 4 more goals, one in each of the matches against Coventry City, West Bromwich Albion, Sunderland and Hull City. On March 4, 2007, he was named the Football League Young Player of the Year. Gareth Bale made his last appearance for Southampton on May 12, 2007 in the first leg of the 2007 Football League Championship Play-offs semi-final against Derby County. During his 2 seasons with the club, he made a total of 45 appearances and scored five goals.
On May 25, 2007, Gareth Bale joined Tottenham Hotspur (Spurs) on a four-year deal worth £10 million. He made his Spurs debut in a friendly game against the St. Patrick’s Athletic Football Club on July 12, 2007. He made his competitive debut for the Spurs on August 26, 2007 in a match against Manchester United, and on September 1st, Gareth Bale scored his first goal in his second game for the Spurs against Fulham. During the 2007-08 season, he continued scoring for his club in the matches against Arsenal, Middlesbrough and Anothorsis Famagusta. In August 2008, Gareth Bale signed a 4 year contract with Tottenham Hotspur to keep him with the club until 2012.
