GARETH BALE

GARETH FRANK BALE BIOGRAPHY

GARETH FRANK BALE born in Cardiff, Wales, 16 July 1989 is a Welsh footballer who plays for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and the Wales national team. He started out as a left back, but has recently been frequently used as a left winger. Bale began his professional career with Championship side Southampton in 2005 and was transferred to Tottenham two years later.

Bale was born in Cardiff to parents Frank, a school caretaker, and Debbie, an operations manager; he attended Eglwys Newydd Primary School at Whitchurch. He is the nephew of former Cardiff City footballer Chris Pike. It was while at this school he first came to the attention of Southampton at nine years old, when he was playing in a six-a-side tournament with his first club, Cardiff Civil Service Football Club. Growing up his football hero was fellow Welshman and Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs.

Bale then attended Whitchurch High School in Cardiff, where, as well as football, he played rugby and hockey and was a distance runner. As a 14 year old he ran the 100 metre sprint in 11.4 seconds. Because of his superior skills, the school's PE teacher, Gwyn Morris, had to write special rules. These restricted Bale to playing one-touch football and not using his left foot. Whilst at Whitchurch, Bale trained at Southampton's satellite academy in Bath, although there was initially some doubt if Southampton would give him a scholarship due to his height.

Despite being only 16 at the time, he helped the school's under-18 side win the Cardiff & Vale Senior Cup. He left school in the summer of 2005 with a Grade A in PE amongst his GCSE results. In his final year at school, he was awarded the PE department's prize for services to sport.



GARETH BALE PROFILE

Full name: Gareth Frank Bale
Date of birth: 16 July 1989
Place of birth: Cardiff, Wales
Height: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing position: Left Winger / Left Back

Club information
Current club: Tottenham Hotspur
Number: 3

Youth career
2005–2006 Southampton

Senior career
2006–2007 Southampton 40 (9)
2007– Tottenham Hotspur 72 (12)

National team
2005–2006 Wales U17 4 (1)
2006 Wales U19 1 (0)
2006–2008 Wales U21 13 (3)
2006– Wales 27 (3)