Is Gareth Bale the greatest British footballer of all time?

Bale guided Los Angeles FC to their maiden Major League Soccer triumph and also captained Wales at his nation's first FIFA World Cup since 1958 in Qatar last year. He achieved many honours throughout his career which has left behind a legacy that few British players can compete with. But how does he rank all-time amongst British stars, could he really be the greatest of all?
Bale never played a starring role in winning any trophies at Tottenham Hotspur. During his time in North London, the side only won a solitary League Cup, and Bale was not named in the squad for the final against Chelsea. However, it was at Spurs where Bale made a name for himself as a young player with huge potential that had the biggest clubs fighting for his signature.
The Welshman joined Real Madrid in 2013 for a fee of around £85 million which eclipsed Cristiano Ronaldo's transfer fee from Manchester United as the world record signing. It was in Madrid that Bale experienced the most successful period of his career. Most notably Bale won the UEFA Champions League five times, the fourth of which was against Liverpool he was the man of the match in the final. In the tie held in Kyiv, Bale scored two spectacular efforts to earn Madrid a 3-1 victory - one of the efforts was an acrobatic overhead kick that went down as one of the greatest goals to ever be scored in the competition.

Bale also helped the Spanish side to four FIFA Club World Cup triumphs, he was the top goalscorer in the 17/18 edition of the tournament with three goals which crowned a unique season of his career in which he appeared rarely but always performed. In more recent years Bale's attitude and mentality towards the game were questioned, and he also had his fair share of injury troubles which contributed to his eventual departure.
In terms of domestic successes, he won La Liga three times and the Spanish Cup once but ultimately it is his European honours that set him apart from other British footballers of the past. Some would also argue that Madrid's pedigree in Europe is top-tier and that they would have won many trophies with or without Bale. Madrid are not necessarily one of the top favourites for the competition this season. Many different sportsbooks offer legal sports betting in the US and with many sports seasons well underway the popularity of betting on sports is rapidly on the rise at present. DraftKings Sportsbook offer Madrid at 11/1 to win the UEFA Champions League this season; the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City and Bayern Munich are favoured to lift the prestigious trophy. The odds for the competition suggest that Madrid are no longer the strongest team in Europe by some distance. The departure of stars such as Bale has certainly affected them greatly as he played a starring role in their successes including scoring crucial goals in the most high-pressure moments.
Bale joined LAFC last July and the transfer of a European superstar to the United States has certainly aided the growth of the sport in the US. Despite being a short-term move in hindsight, Bale's transfer also certainly increased the interest in European football amongst American fans with the Welshman being a legend of the game on the continent. The former Madrid star's highlight of his time in Los Angeles was, of course, winning the MLS Cup. In the final, he scored a vital equaliser in extra time to take the tie to penalties against Philadelphia Union in which his side eventually claimed victory. Bale is a player that has always sparkled on the biggest stages throughout his career.
In terms of the title of all-time greatest British player, it is not surprising that English players provide the strongest claims to have been better players and to have had a larger influence on the sport. Sir Bobby Charlton offers the most obvious claim to being the greatest British footballer of all time due to his successes both at the club and the international level.
Charlton was a legend for Manchester United and England. For the Red Devils, he helped his side to become the first-ever English team to win the European Cup in 1968. But most famously he was of course a key member of the England side that won the World Cup in 1966 on home soil, and this is a feat that Bale could not match. However, playing for relative minnows on the international stage in the form of Wales, Bale has never had a realistic chance of securing silverware for his nation.
Bobby Moore was a fellow member of the famous Three Lions team that lifted the World Cup. At the club level, he was a West Ham United legend, having led his boyhood club to FA Cup and European Cup Winners' Cup glory in the 1960s. Moore was a legend of the game, not just of his club and nation and may well be one of the greatest defenders of all time, but overall his accolades are certainly lacking in terms of a comparison with Bale. Winning five UCL titles and being a FIFA World champion at the club level four times is certainly comparable to a single FIFA World Cup title.
Wayne Rooney was another Manchester United superstar that made a significant impact at the club level similar to Charlton. Rooney won five Premier League titles in a dominant Manchester United side led by Sir Alex Ferguson and also lifted the UEFA Champions League trophy in an all-English final against Chelsea in 2008. The legendary Premier League forward also won the FIFA Club World Cup in 2009, but again his achievements in the game have been entirely eclipsed by Bale.
It is rare for top British footballers to play their football outside of England. This trend is gradually changing, but historically most of the top stars stayed within the English leagues. The likes of Rooney and Charlton were incredible players but their legacies have certainly been limited by the fact they played the entirety of their careers in their home nation.
Bale has an extremely unique legacy in the game, in that he has been successful in multiple different leagues across different nations. Bale took a huge risk when he left Spurs for Madrid for a record fee, and despite many ups and downs, overall he excelled in Spain. No British player can compete with Bale in terms of UCL titles, which in the opinion of many, is the biggest footballing competition in the world, and the risks he took in leaving Tottenham certainly paid off.

In terms of trophies, Bale is undoubtedly the greatest British player ever, if that is the most important metric. While they are a team achievement, Bale played a significant role in Madrid's modern European successes. Individual awards such as the Ballon d'Or are a subjective vote of journalists all around the world. As far as the stats and the records available go, Welsh legend Gareth Bale surely retires as the greatest British player to ever grace a football pitch. But with the progression of the game, his triumphs will likely be bettered by a star of the future, perhaps one who is already playing now.