Soccer Rising Star

Gareth Bale

Personal information

Full name : Gareth Frank Bale
Date of birth : July 16, 1989 (1989-07-16) (age 17)
Place of birth : Cardiff, Wales
Height : 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing position : Left-back

Club information

Current club : Tottenham Hotspur
Number : TBA

Gareth Frank Bale (born July 16, 1989) is a Welsh football player, currently playing for Tottenham Hotspur.

In December 2006 he won the Carwyn James Award for the BBC Wales Young Sports Personality of the Year .

He is one of the most talented young players in Wales' history, with a deadly left foot which has established him as favourite amongst the supporters.

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 April 17, 2006. He played the whole match as Southampton defeated Millwall 2-0.

On 6 August 2006 Bale managed to swing home a left foot free kick to level the scores to 1-1 against Derby County. Both Rudi Skácel and Bale stood over the ball and the youngster took it sweetly, leaving the keeper with no chance with the ball sailing into the top right hand corner. He celebrated with his trademark twirl in the air. This was three weeks after his 17th birthday. 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 superbly executed free kick, and further developed his reputation as a free kick specialist when he struck the post from one against West Bromwich Albion.By December 16, 2006, Bale's goal count had risen to five, thanks to a late equaliser against Sunderland and expertly-taken free-kicks away to Hull and at home to Norwich City.

On 4 March 2007, he was named the Football League Young Player of the Year.This capped an incredible first full season as a professional footballer in which he was one of the Saints' most creative players even though operating from the left-back position whilst his defending improved immeasurably as the season progressed.

His final game for Southampton was in the first leg of the Championship play-off semi-final against Derby County on 12 May 2007, when, following a succession of cynical, crunching tackles from Dean Leacock and Seth Johnson (amongst others), Bale was forced out of the game after 56 minutes, preventing him from appearing in the second leg. In total, he made 45 appearances for the Saints, scoring 5 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.

Wales

He made the senior Welsh squad at the end of the 2005-06 season and then played his debut on 27 May 2006 as a substitute in a 2-1 win over Trinidad and Tobago, making him the youngest ever player to play for Wales aged just 16 years and 315 days to break Lewin Nyatanga's three-month old record. In the game he set up the winner for Robert Earnshaw.

On 7 October 2006 he became the youngest person to score a goal for the full Welsh national team in the Euro 2008 qualification match against Slovakia with a trade-mark free kick . He scored his second goal for Wales in a 3-0 win over San Marino on 28 March 2007.

Brian Flynn, the U-21 Wales manager has expressed comments of the potential in Bale as a future star of the game. Although being trained as a left-back, Bale's left-footed prowess and free kick ability have evoked comparisons to the great left-sided midfielder Ryan Giggs, also from Wales.