User:MadSproute/sandbox

Youth Career
Glan-y-Coed

During the his childhood Sproute developed a love for football. While he showed no great skill in the game as a youngster, (in fact being told by his P.E. Master that he had a talent for Rugby), this did not deter the young man. While attempting and failing to join the ranks of the Young Bangor F.C. team, he and a few other unfortunate they formed a new junior club to participate in the Junior leagues. After a hard drive to recruit new members, by the start of the next season, there where enough players of varying ages to produce two teams: Glan-y-Coed Under 15's and Under 13's. With a motto to evoke the ideals of the club, "Chwaere Teg" translated in English as "Fair Play", the goal was to allow children from all backgrounds to have the chance to participated in the Beautiful Game, despite of skill. Despite these good intentions the teams never fared very well in the local leagues and would likely suffer heavy defeats. Despite this instead of a team of deflated players, it produced a team with more determination and drive in all aspects, skills which didn't go unnoticed. Scouts from Liverpool F.C., Manchester City F.C. and even the attentions of great Ernie Walley.

Despite no real success the fledgling club was then amalgamated with all junior clubs in the Bangor Area. Although all under the leadership of the Bangor City F.C. coaching staff Glan-y-Coed, along with other teams in the scheme, was allowed to continue playing and operate as their original ideals.

Bangor City
Sent for rehabilitation on 17th Aug 2002 after the Physio noticed he was carrying a calf strain.

During the 2000–01 League of Wales, Bangor City finished in 14th position. With Meirion Appleton departing at the end of the season, paithing the way for Roberts to take control of the North Welsh club.

Roberts' first task as manager of the club was to strengthen the Back room staff, with his first four signings being; Gordan Banks as Goalkeeper Coach Barry Horne as a Player/Coach Rüdiger Vollborn as a Player/Coach and Ian Rush as a Scout.

Roberts would then go on the strengthen the squad, making a number of free transfers, due to the lack of transfer funds the club had to offer.

2001–02
Made competative debut against Newtown A.F.C. at home in 2 all draw on Sat 18th Aug 2001. Scored first goal for Bangor against Aberystwyth Town F.C. on Sat Dec 15th 2001 at home in a 7 goal thriller. Slater scores for Aber in 5th minute, McKae equalised in 15th, Barry Horne made it 2 - 1 on the 18th. Morgan scores two for Aber in the second half to put them 3 - 2 ahead. Marc Lloyd-Williams eqaulises in the 80th and Peter Davenport scored the winner in the 85th. McKae, Horne and

UEFA Champions League
Bangor won the league in 2002 Qualified for CHampions League 1st Qual. Qualified to Group Stage

Group stage


Arsenal were drawn in Group A, along with German club Borussia Dortmund, Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven and French side Auxerre. A deflected goal by Bergkamp and a counterattack, finished off by Ljungberg on his comeback from injury gave Arsenal the perfect start in the group stages, at home to Borussia Dortmund. At the Philips Stadion, Arsenal produced an impressive display against PSV, winning 4–0. It was their first win in European football away from home in 19 months and the match set a new club record, as Gilberto scored the fastest goal in the competition at 20.07 seconds.

Against Auxerre, Gilberto scored for the second successive matchday to take Arsenal to nine points, but goals from Olivier Kapo and Khalilou Fadiga in the return game inflicted Arsenal's first defeat in the Champions League. In spite of taking the lead against Borussia Dortmund on Matchday 5, Arsenal conceded two goals to lose 2–1. A fourth straight defeat represented the club's worst run in 19 years but with PSV beating Auxerre, Arsenal qualified for the second group stage with a game to spare – that match ending in a 0–0 draw against PSV.

Notts County
Called up to Wales U21 again on Sep 20 2003

On 25 May 2007, Bale signed a four-year deal with Tottenham Hotspur with Spurs paying an initial £5 million for Bale, potentially rising to £10 million based on appearances and success. However, Tottenham paid Southampton an early settlement payment of £2 million in 2008 to reduce the final fee to £7 million and allow the Saints the immediate cash that they desperately needed.

2003–04
Bale played his first game for Spurs in a friendly against St. Patrick's Athletic on 12 July 2007, but was substituted on the 80th minute with a minor dead-leg. He made his competitive debut for Tottenham Hotspur on 26 August away against Manchester United. In just his second Spurs appearance, he scored his first goal for Tottenham in the 3–3 draw with Fulham on 1 September when he latched on to Robbie Keane's flick, charged down the left flank unopposed and coolly slotted past goalkeeper Antti Niemi. Bale went on to score again against Arsenal in the North London derby, scoring a free kick inside the near post. He then scored in the League Cup home tie against Middlesbrough, making it three goals in four starts for the then 18-year-old.

Bale was substituted after sustaining an injury resulting from a tackle from Fabrice Muamba in the league fixture against Birmingham City on 2 December 2007. A scan revealed that Bale had suffered ligament damage to his right ankle, consigning him to an extended period on the sidelines. Bale had exploratory surgery on 11 December 2007. By February 2008, it became clear that Bale was to miss the rest of the season through injury. Sporting Director, Damien Comolli said, "Even if the examination reveals that Gareth's foot is stable, the decision has been taken to bring him back slowly to ensure he does not get a repeat of the injury or suffer any further damage. Gareth is obviously disappointed to be sidelined for this length of time but he is still young and we have to do what is best for him in the long run."

Bale signed a new 4-year deal with the club in August 2008. After some mediocre performances, Bale was dropped in favour of Benoît Assou-Ekotto and the latter remained first-choice for most of the season.

2004–05
Scored first hat-trick agaist Peterborough on 6-11-04 in 5-4 win. On same day was called into Wales squad.

Gained first cap in 2-0 win against Cyprus on 27-4-05 coming on as sub at the 78th min for Giggs.

2010–11
On 21 August, Bale scored twice in a 2–1 win at Stoke City, the second of which was a head-high volley into the top right hand corner of the goal. This was later awarded Goal of the Month for August 2010 by the BBC. On 25 August, Bale set up all four goals to help Spurs overcome Young Boys 4–0 (6–3 agg.) in a Champions League play-off at White Hart Lane. Although Assou-Ekotto had already returned from injury, Bale continued his good form and cemented his place in the starting eleven, moving forward to left wing to accommodate Assou-Ekotto at left-back. On 29 September 2010, Bale scored his first Champions League goal for Tottenham in a 4–1 home win against Dutch champions FC Twente in their second game of the group stages. In recognition, he was named Welsh Player of the Year by the FAW.

On 20 October 2010, Bale scored his first senior hat trick against European champions Inter Milan at the San Siro in the Champions League. Tottenham lost the match 4–3, having been 4–0 down inside the first 35 minutes and playing with ten men for over 80 minutes of the match after goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes had been sent off in the eighth minute for a professional foul on Inter's Jonathan Biabiany. In the return match at White Hart Lane on 2 November, Bale provided a man of the match performance, setting up goals for Peter Crouch and Roman Pavlyuchenko to earn Spurs a memorable 3–1 win.

In December, Bale was awarded the BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year trophy. On 4 November 2010, Bale stated that he intended to remain at Tottenham for the remainder of his recently signed four-year contract, despite reported interest from other clubs, and on 19 March 2011, he extended his stay at the club until 2015. On 17 April 2011, Bale was honoured with the PFA Player of the Year award, as voted for by his peers.

2011–12
Bale scored his first goal of the season on 24 September 2011, in an away game against Wigan Athletic. The game ended in a 2–1 victory for Tottenham. He added his second and third goals of the season on 30 October with two goals against Queens Park Rangers in a 3–1 home win. He continued his good form with the first goal in a 3–1 victory over Fulham the following week, whilst also setting up Aaron Lennon who made it 2–0 on the stroke of half time. The first goal against Fulham was later ruled by the "dubious goals committee" to be an own goal by Chris Baird. On 3 December 2011, Bale scored the first goal in Tottenham's 3–0 victory over Bolton Wanderers. He marked the goal with a tribute to Gary Speed by holding up his left boot, with "R.I.P Gary Speed" stitched on it, in front of the Bolton fans. On 27 December, Bale scored twice to give Tottenham a 2–0 win against Norwich City. On 5 January 2012, Bale was one of the players voted into the UEFA Team of the Year 2011. He scored his third brace of the season as he scored twice against Wigan on 31 January to take his tally to ten goals for the season. In January 2012 he was the Premier League Player of the Month for the second time in his career, after three goals and two assists in the Premier League for the month.

On 27 June 2012, Bale signed a new four-year contract, committing his future to the club until 2016.

2012–13
For the 2012–13 season, Bale changed his squad number from 3 to number 11 as he was "not a left-back anymore" and had asked the club for a "higher number". Bale scored his first goal of the season against Reading in a 3–1 away victory. On 29 September, Bale scored the second goal in Tottenham's 3–2 away victory over Manchester United, their first win at Old Trafford since 1989.

He scored his first Premier League hat-trick in a 4–0 away win on Boxing Day against Aston Villa. Bale then scored in the FA Cup third round fixture against Coventry City as well as assisting Clint Dempsey on both his goals in a 3–0 win. On 30 January, Bale scored a superb solo effort in the 1–1 draw with Norwich City. Bale then scored against West Bromwich Albion in a 1–0 away win. Bale then took his goal tally of the season to 15 goals with a brace against Newcastle United in a match which Spurs won 2–1, this took Spurs into third place, and strengthened their Champions League ambitions.

In Bale's next game he scored directly from two free kicks, one from 35 yards out just before half time and another from 25 yards out in the dying seconds of injury time, to give Tottenham a 2–1 victory over Olympique Lyonnais in the first leg of their Europa League round of 32 tie. This took Bale to a tally of ten goals in his previous ten appearances. In Tottenham's Premier League match against West Ham on 25 February, Bale scored the first and third in a 3–2 win for Tottenham. His second, a long range dipping strike from over 30 yards, in the dying stages of the game, capped a world class performance. This was his eighth goal in six games.

On 3 March 2013, Bale scored against Arsenal in a North London derby that Tottenham won 2–1. On 7 March, Tottenham faced Internazionale in the Europa League, with Bale scoring the opening goal and Tottenham winning 3–0. Bale's run of good form in the early months of 2013 saw him win Premier League Player of the Month for February as well as the BBC's Goal of the Month in both January and February for his strikes against Norwich City and West Ham United respectively. On 4 April, Bale injured his right ankle in the first leg of the Europa League quarter final against FC Basel. On his return from injury, Bale scored a goal and assisted Clint Dempsey as Tottenham beat Manchester City at White Hart Lane.

On 28 April 2013, Bale won both the PFA Players' Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year after his excellent showing in the 2012–13 season. A week later, on 2 May 2013, he added the FWA (Football Writer's Association) Player of the Year Award, making Bale one of only two players who have won all three in the same season, the other being Cristiano Ronaldo, who won them in 2007. Bale scored the winning goal against his former club Southampton on 4 May. The goal gave Spurs a 1–0 win as well as being Bale's 20th in the Premier League in his 200th appearance for Spurs. On 19 May, Bale scored a 90th-minute goal from 25 yards out. This goal gave Spurs a 1–0 win over Sunderland, but was not enough to give them Champions League football for the following season.

Real Madrid
On 1 September 2013, Spanish club Real Madrid announced that they had reached an agreement for the transfer of Bale, signing a six-year deal for an undisclosed fee. The Spanish press (and Real Madrid TV) reported that Bale had cost £77 million (€91 million), while the British press reported a world record transfer fee of £85.3 million (€100 million), which would be above Cristiano Ronaldo's transfer record fee of £80 million (€94 million). Bale was assigned the number 11 shirt at Madrid.

2013–14
The first half of Bale's season was plagued by injuries; of Real's first sixteen games after his signing, Bale missed five and was substituted on or off in six others, playing only five full games. Bale scored on his Real Madrid debut, a goal coming in the 38th minute against Villarreal, before being substituted later in the game for Ángel Di María. Bale's second appearance for Madrid came in a 6–1 victory over Galatasaray in the Champions League. Although Bale only played the final twenty-six minutes, his free-kick led to Cristiano Ronaldo's second goal of the game. On 28 September 2013, Bale made his home debut as a second-half substitute in a 1–0 loss to local rivals Atlético Madrid.

Due to a recurring thigh injury he suffered during pre-season, Bale missed the first two games of October, against Copenhagen and Levante. Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti gradually eased him back into action, as he played 14 minutes against Málaga on 19 October. He won a stoppage time penalty which Ronaldo scored to give Madrid a 2–0 victory. Following a brief appearance against Juventus in the Champions League, Bale made his El Clásico debut on 26 October, but was substituted in the 61st minute. Barcelona won the game 2–1, and Bale's performance drew some media criticism. Four days later, he scored two goals and assisted two in a 7–3 victory against Sevilla. Following his impressive performance the Spanish press nicknamed Bale "The Cannon".

In November, he assisted a further two goals in Madrid's 3–2 victory over Rayo Vallecano, before scoring in a 2–2 draw with Juventus in the Champions League. On 9 November, Bale assisted Sami Khedira's goal in a 5–1 win over Real Sociedad. On 23 November, Bale scored his fourth league goal in eight games as Madrid defeated Almería 5–0. He then scored a dipping free-kick against Galatasaray in the Champions League, a match which Madrid won 4–1 despite being a man down. On 30 November, Bale rounded off the month with his first hat-trick for Real Madrid, as well as assisting Karim Benzema, in a 4–0 victory over Real Valladolid. It was a "perfect hat-trick": one goal with a header and one with each foot.

On 26 February 2014, he scored twice in Real Madrid's 6–1 win against Schalke in the Champions League round-of-16 first leg. He then scored one of the team's three goals in a 3–0 quarter-final defeat of Borussia Dortmund on 2 April, taking him to five Champions League goals for the season. In La Liga, he scored four goals in three matches between gameweeks 31 and 33, as Real Madrid defeated Rayo Vallecano (5–0), Real Sociedad (4–0) and Almería (4–0).

On 16 April, Bale scored the winning goal for Real Madrid with five minutes remaining in the 2014 Copa del Rey Final against rivals Barcelona. Considered one of the best goals of his career, Bale outsprinted Barcelona defender Marc Bartra from the halfway line (with Bale running off the field at one point) before converting past goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto. In the post match interview Bale stated, "I had to get round the player and go off the pitch to do it", while his Real Madrid teammate Xabi Alonso commented, "It was incredible, I have never seen anything like it". The goal was Bale's 20th of the season and his first in a Clásico fixture.

On 24 May, Bale scored in the 110th minute of the extra time period to put Real Madrid 2–1 up against city rivals Atlético Madrid in the 2014 UEFA Champions League Final, as Los Blancos won their tenth European Cup. The goal made Bale the first Welshman to score a goal in a European Cup/Champions League final (Ian Rush scored in a penaty shoot-out for Liverpool in the 1984 European Cup final). Bale finished his debut season with 22 goals and 16 assists in all competitions. Real Madrid's attacking trio of Bale, Benzema and Cristiano, dubbed "BBC", finished the season with 97 goals.

2014–15
Although the 2014–15 season saw a drop in performance from Bale, he started the season in good form, playing the full 90 minutes and assisting Cristiano Ronaldo's first goal in a 2–0 win at the Cardiff City Stadium against Sevilla to win the 2014 UEFA Super Cup. This was his third trophy as a Real Madrid player. After the match, his performance was described as "amazing" by Ronaldo. Six days later, Bale scored his first goal of the season in a 4–2 away loss to Real Sociedad. Bale scored twice in Real's 8–2 win over Deportivo La Coruna on 20 September 2014.

In December 2014, Bale scored in a third major final, the second goal in a 2–0 win over San Lorenzo, to help the club win the FIFA Club World Cup. In a match against Espanyol on 10 January 2015, Bale was booed by a section of Madrid fans who adjudged him as being selfish in shooting for goal and not passing to Ronaldo. Bale was later defended by Carlo Ancelotti over the issue. On 18 April, Bale sustained a calf injury against Málaga.

2015–16
Bale scored twice in Real's win over Real Betis in September 2015. His two goals took the total number of goals of Madrid's attacking trio of Bale, Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo to 200 goals since they first played together.

Club
1 Includes FAW Premier Cup, Supercopa de España, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.

International goals

 * Scores and results list Wales' goal tally first.

Playing honours

 * Bangor City
 * Welsh Premier League: 2001–02, 2002–03
 * Welsh Cup: 2001–2002, 2002–03
 * Welsh League Cup: 2001–02, 2002–03
 * FAW Premier Cup: 2002–03


 * Notts County
 * Football League Second Division: 2004–05
 * Football League Third Division: 2003–04
 * FA Cup (1): 1985–86
 * League Cup (4): 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84
 * Charity Shield (7): 1977 (shared), 1979, 1980, 1982, 1986 (shared), 1988, 1989
 * European Cup (3): 1977–78, 1980–81, 1983–84
 * UEFA Super Cup (1): 1977

Managerial honours

 * Liverpool
 * Football League First Division (3): 1985–86, 1987–88, 1989–90
 * FA Cup (2): 1985–86, 1988–89
 * League Cup (1): 2011–12
 * Super Cup (1): 1985–86
 * FA Charity Shield (4): 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990


 * Blackburn Rovers
 * Premier League (1): 1994–95
 * Football League Second Division Play Off Winners (1): 1991–92


 * Celtic
 * Scottish League Cup (1): 1999–2000

Individual

 * Ballon d'Or: Runner-up 1983
 * PFA Players' Player of the Year: 1982–83
 * FWA Footballer of the Year: 1978–79, 1982–83
 * FWA Tribute Award: 1987
 * English Football Hall of Fame (Player): 2002
 * Scottish Football Hall of Fame: 2004
 * European Hall of Fame (Player): 2008

Order

 * Member of the Order of the British Empire: 1984