Player Watch: Gareth Bale - Retires

[Navy Spur]

44 years old and I feel like a kid the night before Christmas, welcome home Gareth ??

 

[Hakkz]

Spanish Military Prop just in front of him...

Real Madrid making sure he actually leaves the country.

 

[WannaDanceWithUdogie]

some planes tailing him

 

[hughy]

I was going to be a smart arse and point to when we trashed them at Wembley but Bale didn't actually feature in that game at all.

Nope, and didn't play against City in the CL either.

 

[kierangill14]

Has Bale played a game in England in any competition since his last game for us? In Europe, friendly, international or otherwise?

Real played City a few years ago in the Champions League and he started at the Etihad

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36125922

 

[Indisguise]

Gareth Bale coming home may well have saved 2020 from being the crappiest year in living memory; for us Yids at least.

 

[Cinemattis]

All superb players and wonderful signings but they weren't household names around the world and known by those without an interest in football. I'd argue Bale as a former world's most expensive player is and to some degree Klinsmann and Linker also. That's why I say he's on another level status wise. I'm not talking about impact or ability or quality, purely notoriety.

I agree to some extent that Bale, Lineker and Klinsmann are probably the only signIngs we’ve ever made of players that are (and were at the time of their signing) known outside the sport.

And, I would like to add to that trio Alex Morgan - who I guess would arguably be the biggest name (after Bale) in that group notoriety wise. Her following in social media far supersedes and frankly dwarves the two older strikers in comparison. But it might be a generational thing as well - my old dad is 85 and has no clue (and doesn’t care) about who is popular on “tweetabook” or “snapgram”. But he would recognize the names of Klinsmann and Lineker.

There is of course the argument that since football is the planet’s most popular sport, a “world famous footballer” is simply “world famous”. And it has been like this for generations. At the same time: stardom and notoriety were different back in the 50s, 60s and 70s: there were no internet hype or 24/7 television coverage. Where and when I grew up (in the late 70s and early 80s) there was one televised football game per week. And for the European club competitions, it was only the finals that were shown. We read about the games and the players in the newspapers days after they’d happen. The World and European championships were shown though, making the players that were successful in those tournaments bigger stars and more famous than what they probably were as club players. Klinsmann being a very good example of that (his club career isn’t really that outstanding). Adding to the fact that he is German (don’t mention the war) and was a part of the team that beat England in the semifinal in ‘90: he would probably be “extra world famous” in England (if you understand what I mean?).

The World Cup in Argentina in ‘78 was a big deal. Back then there was no internet, nor were there multiple television broadcasters in most countries (outside the US). It was big outside of football because of the political and social context in an era of Cold War, sociopolitical debates of South vs North, Latin American dictatorships, etc. So when Ardiles and Villa signed for Spurs just weeks after they’d won it, it was a much bigger news story world wide than Klinsmann signing for us 16 years later. The former story reached a larger audience world wide because it was so special. But I’ll agree with you that Kempes was the biggest star of that team, and of the tournament. Who was the bigger name of Pasarella and Ardiles would probably be a matter of taste and liking.

Lineker in that respect was probably at the time of signing a bigger name than Klinsmann as a “household name around the world” simply because he was a golden boot winner. Klinsmann was not the stand out alone superstar of the German team (not at least pre Euro 96).

It is a difficult debate wether someone was famous or of notoriety in his or her time in retrospect. It is not at least about cultural and geographical context. Was Julius Caesar a household name in China 2.000 years ago? Was Napoleon on everyone’s lips in Norwegian fjords around 1800? How many in Egypt cared about Babe Ruth in the late 1920s? How many knew of Elvis in 1960s Siberia? Was Wayne Gretzky the one everyone was talking about in school yards in Essex in the mid 1980s? The greatest Winter Olympic athletes of all time are probably total unknowns for most British people, but are mega stars in their world.

I wasn’t born yet and can’t say for sure if Cliff Jones, Jimmy Greaves or Martin Peters were world famous when they came to our club. Coming from a very sports interested family, I’m pretty certain they would have been known by my Norwegian family members of that time though. But would they be known outside the world of sport? I guess Greaves, as a young star smashing them in at almost unprecedented levels for club and country, with the transfer to Italy earlier, would be in the news around the footballing countries in the world of the time. But if you’re talking house hold names around the globe in 1960-62 outside politics, you could probably limit that to Pele, Elvis and a few Hollywood stars. Maybe not even the latter two. Remember that the world was much more closed off and divided/partitioned, with the Cold War and total control of what was being presented in the media in different parts of the world.

Sorry if I’m rambling! We can amicably agree to disagree, I just find the topic quite interesting. ??

EDIT: re-reading your reply, I´d agree that Bale is probably the only signing we´ve ever made that is truly "world known". Because of his world record transfer fee, that goal in a CL final, and top it off with sitting on the bench for an obscene amount of money - he´s just a huge name across the globe. He´s nown in the US - and they no fuck all about football played with actual feet.
But to that point: how many signings have English clubs ever done of players on that level of notority? The Maradona, Ronaldo (Brazilian), Ronaldinho, Zidane, Messi and Neymar level of famous have never played here. And CR7 and Beckham were made into icons in the PL - they weren´t bought.

 

[daveduvet]

There must be someone on SC who’s in the Luton area? If so, get thy arse to the airport...

 

[Matthew]

Blatantly, fucking blatantly they've taken that idea from SC

probably micheal bridge

 

[aussiespursguy]

Well that's the weirdest sentence I've ever read on here.

I know you guys are upside-down, but come on...

Yeah I'll give you that. Sorry just a bit stressed. Had to get the missus into hospital today.
All good. I just want some good news.

 

[Norgie]

I'm looking forward to the 400 posts telling us he has touched down

 

[samspurs92]

Can we take a moment to appreciate that, even if the Madrid fans were a sack of dicks to him, the Bale family have lived in Spain for seven years. Regardless of the club, it's not easy leaving what must've become home to them, so as the plane goes out over the sea and that country is in the rear view mirror (do planes have rear view mirrors?) lets raise a cuppa to a new start back in the UK for them all.

Glad you're (almost) home, Gareth mate.

Cuppa? Fuck that!

I’m on the champagne already mate, it’s Bale day!!!

 

[spursfan77]

Apparently the jet is owned by Daniel Levy - didnt realise he owns a jet

Im so in the wrong business

Ive always thought it was cheaper to rent them when you need one rather than buy one. Levy continues to surprise me!

 

[yid-down-under]

Christ almighty, I go to take a dump and this thread descends into anger and vitriol. Calm down people, today is a day of celebration and happiness.

Do you fold or scrunch?

 

[daveduvet]

Even the sun has come out for Gareth

 

[Hoddle&Waddle]

some planes tailing him

Its carrying his golf clubs.

 

[Mouse!]

The announcement video needs to have the chorus of this song on it.

100% this.

That song came out around the same time Bale exploded in Autumn 2010. At least the Diddy version did...

 

[sausage]

Apparently the jet is owned by Daniel Levy - didnt realise he owns a jet

Im so in the wrong business

There is a subsidiary (I think the club owns, it's complex) called RazAir that has a fleet of private jets.


The Queen has used G-THFC a few times before.

 

[jonnyrotten]

???

Just noticed fat Tanguy in the background ??

 

[Danfunkel]

Spanish Military Prop just in front of him...

Levy demanded Madrid pay for that prop to create clean air and save his jet some fuel. What a man.