- Gareth Bale
Biography
The powerful left-sided Welsh international youngster was awarded the Club’s Young Player of the Year award after an incredible second half of the 2009-10 campaign.
Playing as either a left-back or further up the flank, Gareth was instrumental in securing our fourth place Premier League finish.
Despite being out of the side and having never started a Premier League game on the winning team until January, 2010, his transformation was incredible.
An injury to regular left-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto at the turn of the year gave him his chance for a run of games, and he never looked back, earning Man of the Match awards and rave reviews throughout the remainder of the campaign.
Gareth made 34 appearances in total that season, scoring three Premier League goals which included valuable winners in our back-to-back North London derby victories over Arsenal and Chelsea in April, 2010.
GARETH BALE INFO
Name Gareth Bale
Born July 16, 1989
Position Defender
Squad No. 3
Previous Club(s) Southampton
By the end of that season, he had been awarded with a new contract that will keep the precocious talent at the Lane until 2014.
Three years previously, Gareth had made a promising start to his Spurs career as a teenager, having signed from Southampton in May, 2007.
He made his First Team debut at Old Trafford against Manchester United in August, 2007, following initial injury problems following his arrival from St Mary’s.
The next two games saw the youngster announce himself on the biggest stage, scoring his first Spurs goal in an away fixture with Fulham before hitting the opener in his first ever North London derby against Arsenal at White Hart Lane, a game we went on to lose 3-1.
But injury problems over the coming months, including a broken foot picked up in a home game with Birmingham City that December, curtailed his progress and ended his maiden season prematurely.
On returning from injury for the 2008-09 campaign, Gareth found regular football harder to come by due to the resurgance of Assou-Ekotto as the Club’s first-choice left-back until it all turned around for the young man from Cardiff.
Earlier on in his young career, Gareth made his professional debut for Southampton against Millwall in the Championship towards the end of the 2005-06 campaign.
He went on to be capped by his country at Under-21 level before becoming the youngest ever Wales international when he came off the bench against Trinidad and Tobago in June, 2006.
His first Welsh start came, ironically enough, at White Hart Lane in September 2006 when Brazil provided the opposition and a first international goal quickly followed against Slovakia in a European Championship qualifier – making him the country’s youngest goalscorer.
Gareth made 45 appearances for Southampton, scoring five goals, and helped the club to the Championship play-offs at the end of the 2006-07 season before his switch to the Lane.
Gareth Frank Bale (born 16 July 1989) is a Welsh footballer who plays as a left back or left winger for English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and the Wales national team.
Club career
Southampton: At the age of 16 years and 275 days, Bale became the second youngest player ever to play for the Saints (after Theo Walcott) when he made his debut on 17 April 2006. He played the whole match as Southampton defeated Millwall 2–0.
On 6 August 2006, Bale scored his first league goal, a free kick, to level the scores at 1–1 against Derby County. The final score at Pride Park was 2–2.
He scored again, at St. Mary’s, against Coventry City in the team’s second game of the 2006–07 season with another free kick. Bale further developed his reputation as a free kick specialist when he struck the post from one against West Bromwich Albion By 16 December 2006, Bale’s goal count had risen to five, thanks to a late equaliser against Sunderland and free-kicks away to Hull and at home to Norwich City.
In December 2006 he won the Carwyn James Award for the BBC Wales Young Sports Personality of the Year. To cap his first full season as a professional footballer, Bale was named the Football League Young Player of the Year on 4 March 2007.
His final game for Southampton was in the first leg of the Championship play-off semi-final against Derby County on 12 May 2007. Bale suffered an injury during the second half, preventing him from appearing in the second leg. In total, he made 45 appearances for Southampton, scoring five goals.
Tottenham Hotspur: Bale completed a transfer to Tottenham on 25 May 2007, arranging a four-year deal, with Tottenham making an immediate payment of £5 million, with further additional payments that could see Bale’s transfer go up to £10m.
He played his first game for Spurs in a friendly against St. Patrick’s Athletic on 12 July 2007, but was substituted on the 80th minute with a minor dead-leg. He made his competitive debut for Tottenham Hotspur on 26 August away against Manchester United. In just his second Spurs appearance, he scored his first goal for Tottenham in the 3–3 draw with Fulham on 1 September when he latched on to Robbie Keane’s flick, charged down the left flank unopposed and coolly slotted past goalkeeper Antti Niemi. Bale then went on to score again against Arsenal in the North London Derby, scoring a free kick inside the near post. He then scored in the League Cup home tie against Middlesbrough, making it three goals in four starts for the 18-year-old. He also set up Spurs’ goal against Anorthorsis Famagusta in the UEFA Cup.
Bale was substituted after sustaining an injury resulting from a tackle from Fabrice Muamba in the league fixture against Birmingham City on 2 December 2007. A scan revealed that Bale had suffered ligament damage to his right ankle, consigning Bale to an extended period on the sidelines. Spurs’ sporting director Damien Comolli announced in February 2008 that Bale would miss the rest of the season through injury. He signed a new four-year deal with the club in August 2008.
Bale played a record 24 Premier League games for Spurs without being on the winning side. His first involvement in a Premier League victory came against Burnley on 26 September 2009 – more than two years after signing for Spurs – when he came on as an 85th minute substitute.
In June 2009, Bale had to undergo surgery for a knee injury, ruling him out for up to eight weeks. He missed the preseason matches and it was projected that he would miss the first few weeks of the 2009–10 season. On 26 September, he made his comeback as a substitute in the Spurs’ 5–0 thrashing of Burnley. However, he endured a frustrating time on the bench as Benoît Assou-Ekotto was in good form. When Assou-Ekotto was sidelined with an injury, manager Harry Redknapp decided to give Bale a chance and he impressed in the Spurs’ 4–0 thrashing of Peterborough in the FA Cup third-round. He finally tasted victory for the first time as a starter in a league game in the 2–0 win over London rivals Fulham. His good form continued and he was named Player of the Round after helping the Spurs to a 3–1 win in the sixth round replay of the FA Cup against Fulham. In April 2010, Bale scored another goal against Arsenal after a pass from Defoe he tapped the ball past the Arsenal keeper. Three days later, Bale slammed in Tottenham’s second with his weaker right foot in a 2–1 victory over leaders Chelsea and became Man of the Match. He was named Barclays Player of the Month for April.
He signed a new four year contract with Tottenham on 7 May 2010 as a reward for helping the club reach the UEFA Champions League qualification place.
On 21 August 2010, Bale scored twice in a 2–1 win at Stoke City, the second of which was a “stunning” head high volley into the top right hand corner of the goal. On 25 August, Bale set up all four goals to help Spurs overcome Young Boys 4–0 (6–3 agg.) in a Champions League play-off at White Hart Lane.
Comment: New Messiah Gareth Bale
