Gareth Bale: “The possibility of going bankrupt scares me...”

Walking away from professional soccer isn’t easy. But for many players, the real challenge begins after retirement—especially when their careers were built with constant support from clubs that handled everything from travel to finances. That kind of assistance can breed dependence, and Gareth Bale is all too aware of the risks.

Bale’s fear of losing it all

“There was one thing that always scared me inside,” the Welsh star admitted in an interview with Front Office Sports. “You read articles about when people finish professional sport, they go bankrupt, they don’t know how to manage their money, they don’t know how to do all these things. So, by reading those things, you naturally come to the point where, when I finish, I stop getting a paycheck. How do people then restructure their lives? There’s a lot of, I imagine, athletes live with what they earn - a big, lavish lifestyle. I try not to do that.”

Bale’s move to Real Madrid in 2013

Bale’s career skyrocketed after his move from Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid, where he became one of the highest-paid players in the world. Over his years at the Santiago Bernabéu, he earned more than $180 million (€170 million). After a stint in Major League Soccer, he hung up his boots for good following the 2022 World Cup.

“I try to have a plan for the future where I wasn’t relying on my pay packet every week,” Bale explained. “So coming to the end then, there’s other things in place. I always had this kind of pillar idea where I would try to invest my money in different things. If one pillar got chopped down, or didn’t work, the whole building’s not going to fall down. So I was always trying to diversify from quite early on. And when I came to retire, I still don’t know exactly what I want to do now but I always said when I did retire, I would like a couple of years to get away from football, relax, enjoy myself and spend more time with the family. Then reassess and try and find, or explore a few paths and find the one that excites me that I want to go down.”

Bale’s business portfolio

Since stepping away from the pitch, Bale has launched several business ventures, including themed bars centered around mini-golf. He’s also worked as a pundit for British television covering Champions League matches. Most recently, he confirmed talks with Cardiff City—with a view to buying hometown club.

“I suggested about my home team,” he says. “It’s one that’s been on the decline for a few years now and has such massive potential, being a one-city club. We are looking forward to the response, we would love to get ownership of it and take the club back to where we think it belongs.”

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