Gareth Bale: England was never my choice

GARETH BALE has revealed how he could never have lived with himself if he had rejected Wales to play for England.

The Tottenham hero and proud Welshman qualified for the Three Lions through his grandma. But, to the misery of England fans worried about getting to Rio 2014, Bale was not interested in the white shirt.
Spurs flier Bale, 23, said: “They would never have let me back in the country if I’d played for England.

“My grandmother on my mum’s side is English — but I’m Welsh, it’s as simple as that. Playing for England did not enter my head. I had no interest in doing that, it never appealed to me.” Bale — who has just won the treble of PFA and FWA Footballer of the Year, plus PFA Young Player of the Year — bagged another wonder goal, his 20th of the season, against Southampton yesterday to boost Spurs’ Champions League bid.


He added: “My mum and dad are Welsh, my sister is Welsh, I grew up in Cardiff and my uncle played for them. My idols were Ryan Giggs and John Hartson, two of the greats of Welsh football.


“I’ve even got the Welsh flag on my boots. How much more Welsh could I be?
“People say I could have gone to big tournaments with England but I don’t care, I want to do it for Wales.
“We’re getting better all the time and we have some good young players coming through.
“And Welsh football is going really well with Cardiff joining Swansea in the Premier League, which is a huge step in the right direction.”

Bale was in the same year at school as new British Lions rugby captain Sam Warburton at Whitchurch High in Cardiff. And double Olympic team pursuit cycling champion Geraint Thomas was two years above them.
Bale revealed: “I played school football with Sam but I didn’t do any rugby.

“I keep in touch with Sam and sometimes bump into him in Wales if the national teams are in the same place.
“It’s amazing that the school could produce Geraint and then the two of us from the same year.”