"After careful and thoughtful reflection I announce my immediate retirement from club and international football. I feel incredibly fortunate to have fulfilled my dream of playing the sport I love. It has truly given me some of the best moments of my life."
With this post on Instagram, accompanied by a photo of him with the Wales national team shirt, Gareth Bale announces his retirement from competitive activity.
"It was a 17-year high that will be impossible to replicate, no matter what the next chapter has in store for me. From my first touch in Southampton to my last with LAFC (the team from Los Angeles where Giorgio Chiellini also played ed) and everything in between,
I have built a career for which I feel immense pride and gratitude.
Playing for my country and captaining them 111 times was truly a dream come true."
"Showing my gratitude to everyone who has played their part in this journey seems impossible to me," he continues. "I feel indebted to many people for helping to change my life and shape my career in a way that I could never have dreamed when I started at 9."
Then follow a series of dedications for her family members.
Bale, 35, enjoyed the best part of his career with Tottenham and Real Madrid.
In his career he won a League Cup with Spurs, 5 Champions Leagues, 4 Club World Cups, 3 European Super Cups, 3 Spanish titles and a King's Cup with Real and an MLS championship with Los Angeles FC.
With Wales he finished third at Euro 2016 and brought the Dragons back to a World Cup, the one in Qatar, after 64 years of absence.