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YOU KNOW ? |
| Bale
attended Whitchurch High School in Cardiff. He was
a keen athlete; he played football, rugby, hockey
and excelled at athletics.
As a 14-year-old he ran the 100-metre sprint in 11.4
seconds.
Because
of his superior skills, the school's Physical education
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.
In April 2006, at the age of 16 years and 275 days,
Bale became the second youngest player ever to play
for Southampton (after Theo Walcott).
He had his debut for Wales at the age of 16 years
and 315 days making him the youngest ever player to
play for Wales.
Bale
was eligible to play for England through his grandmother,
but he stated in 2016: "I wouldn't care if I
never qualified – I would never play for England."
His
transfer to Real Madrid was a then-world record transfer
fee of €100.8 million, eclipsing the previous
record fee of €94 million the club paid for Cristiano
Ronaldo in 2009.
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