Gareth Bale shares the private moment that brought his career to an early end

December 10, 2025 Oliver Obel

Gareth Bale says the moment he decided to retire from football arrived quietly, far from the spotlight, and had little to do with anything happening on the pitch. Instead, it came during a period of personal upheaval that forced him to reconsider what his life should look like beyond the game.

The former Wales captain’s announcement in January 2023 stunned supporters. He had just led Wales at the World Cup for the first time in more than six decades, and his short-term deal with LAFC looked like the start of a new chapter rather than the closing of one. But a few sentences posted to his social media accounts made it clear: he was stepping away immediately from club and international football.

A statement that didn’t tell the whole story

At the time, Bale kept his reasoning close to his chest.

He described retirement as “by far the hardest of my career,” and wrote about the emotional weight of representing Wales. “How do I describe what being a part of this country and team means to me?” he asked in his farewell message, concluding that he could never fully express those feelings “simply with words.”

That message carried emotion but little explanation, and speculation filled the gap. Was it physical wear? A desire for a quieter life? A natural ending after the World Cup? Bale said nothing publicly until now.

A personal turning point

In a recent interview with GQ Magazine, Bale revealed that his decision was driven by something far more personal.

“My dad got ill and that played a massive role in my decision (to retire),” he said. He noted that fans often have no sense of the pressures players juggle behind closed doors. “People don't know what anyone's going through at home but I soon realised there's more to life than just football.”

He didn’t elaborate on the details of his father’s condition but made it clear that the situation forced him to pause and reassess. It wasn’t a matter of trophies or minutes played his priorities had shifted.

Learning a new rhythm of life

Since retiring, Bale has chosen a life that runs at a different pace.

He told GQ he has intentionally avoided slipping into the constant media cycle that surrounds former elite players. Family, he said, had become the new center of gravity. “Our kids, our life, our marriage, our family, our friends, these things are most important.”

He also admitted that he now views the anxiety of elite sport with a kind of disbelief. “The things you were so worried about in football I now look back and laugh at,” he said.

There are new joys too simpler ones. Watching his son play football reminds him of being a child again, glancing to the sideline to see his own dad watching. His daughter’s horse-riding lessons have become another part of this new chapter, one where competition has given way to witnessing his children discover passions of their own.

The legacy he leaves behind

Bale’s career stands among the most decorated of any British footballer abroad.

As previously reported by BBC Sport and other outlets, he won five Champions League titles and three La Liga crowns with Real Madrid, delivering some of the club’s most memorable goals. Before that came the rapid ascent: a teenage breakthrough at Southampton, a transformative spell at Tottenham Hotspur, and a then world-record move to Madrid in 2013.

His final act on a football field was perfectly in character an extra-time header for LAFC in the 2022 MLS Cup final, a last flash of dramatic timing from a player who built a career on them.

Bale didn’t plan for that to be his farewell. Life simply redirected him. And now, from a quieter place, he seems at peace with it.

Sources: Reuters, BBC, AP, GQ Magazine