Gareth Bale reveals reason behind early retirement

Gareth Bale has said that he has had a back injury throughout his career, which caused his early retirement.

Bale, 36, has been one of Britain's most successful players, who won five Champions League titles with Real Madrid.

He announced his retirement at the age of 33, playing for Wales at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, Bale revealed the details of a back injury he picked up as a teenager at Tottenham Hotspur.

"I tore my disc in my back when I was 18 at Tottenham. I played my whole career with that,” Bale Said.

"I had a lot of calf injuries which was due to my back. I never came out and said this when I was playing because some people would say 'he's making excuses'.

"It was manageable but over time it caught up with me."

Gareth Bale moved to Real Madrid in a record-breaking deal in 2013.

He said that Real were aware of the problem when he joined them, and called the problem "manageable".

He added that he even brushed his teeth while standing on his heels because of the risk of injury to his calf.

"I never knew when it would come," he said, "and obviously people were like, 'oh, he doesn't look after himself' [but] I would literally make sure my calves and soleus were bulletproof.

"But again, if it misfires and it goes, there's nothing I could do about it. I'd have an injection in my back to calm it all down."