Gareth Bale: Wales captain and Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur star retires from football

The Wales captain and footballing legend Gareth Bale has hung up his boots at the age of 33.

The star announced his retirement in a post on social media.

He said: "After careful and thoughtful consideration, I announce my immediate retirement from club and international football... I feel incredibly fortunate to have realised my dream of playing the sport I love."

As we look back at his career, you can add your messages in the comments below and let us know what have been your favourite Gareth Bale moments.

'Honoured and humbled'

In a follow up post, Bale said that the decision had been the hardest of his career.

"How do I describe what being a part of this country and team means to me? How do I articulate the impact it has had on my life? How do I put into words the way I felt every single time I put on that Welsh shirt?

"My answer is that I couldn't possibly do any of those things justice simply with words," he said.

He's played for big clubs in the UK and abroad

"I'm honoured and humbled to have been able to play a part in the history of this incredible country, to have felt the support and passion of the Red Wall and together have been to unexpected and amazing places."

Bale continued: "So for now I am stepping back but not away from the team that lives in me and runs through my veins after all the dragon on my shirt is all I need."

Looking back at Gareth Bale's career

Gareth Bale's heart-shaped goal celebration - here he is doing it when he was at Tottenham in 2012

Bale began his professional career playing for Southampton before transferring to Tottenham Hotspur in 2007.

Bale was twice named footballer of the year while at Tottenham, in 2010-11 and 2012-13, before moving to Real Madrid for what was then a world-record fee of more than £80m in September 2013.

Gareth won the Champions League five time while he was at Real Madrid

During his time at Madrid, Bale helped Real win three league titles and five Champions League titles - a number no other British player has matched - along with three Club World Cups, three Uefa Super Cups and a Spanish cup.

He returned to Spurs in loan in 2020-21, and joined US club Los Angeles FC in July 2022.

Bale said the the Wales team "runs through his veins"

He first played on the international stage for Wales in 2006 at just 16 years old, becoming the youngest player ever to play for the national team, at that point in time.

He's played for the Wales national team 111 times, and is the country's most-capped male player.

He was his country's hero as they reached the 2016 and 2020 European Championships, before he led Wales at their first World Cup since 1958 at Qatar 2022, ending his international career with 41 goals.