Gareth Bale feels “hard done by” over the criticism he received for playing golf while at Read Madrid and says he spent far less time on the course than people think.
Bale opened up about the fallout from him posing with a Welsh flag featuring the infamous slogan “Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order” in 2019 after he helped his country qualify for Euro 2020.
The flag had been created by Wales fans in response to criticism of Bale by former Real striker and director of football Predrag Mijatovic, who said of Britain’s most successful footballing export: “The first thing he thinks about is Wales, then golf, and after that Real Madrid.”
Bale had previously been photographed playing golf after manager Zinedine Zidane said the player was too ill to play a pre-season match against former club Tottenham Hotspur.
Being pictured smiling with the “Wales. Golf. Madrid” flag with his international team-mates caused a major storm in Madrid.
Bale, 36, told British GQ: “That slogan is the one thing I felt hard done by. For one thing, no one knew how much golf I actually played. If I ask you now how much golf you reckon I played, you’d probably say three or four times a week maybe, something along those lines?
“I played once every two to three weeks, but only on a day off. I’d never play a game for eight hours, I was always very professional about it. But people don’t know that so they make up that slogan.”
Recalling the flag incident itself, he added: “We’d just qualified for the Euros so I’m obviously celebrating, the whole team’s there, then someone puts the flag in front of me. What am I supposed to do? I’m like, ‘I can’t throw my own country’s flag on the floor because that is the worst thing I could do’.
“I actually didn’t physically ever touch the flag, which for me was important because I was like, ‘It’s not me doing this – I’m just celebrating with my friends’. Then what happened happened.
“I got absolutely slaughtered [by the Spanish media]. I felt a bit hard done by because it all comes down to misinformation. I obviously don’t prioritise golf more than I do my country and my club and physically haven’t done one thing wrong. I look back at it now and it’s like, it is what it is. I can’t do anything about it. You have to laugh or you cry. So I laughed.
“If people were ever against me, I would run on, smile and laugh. That was my way of coping with it. I either get angry and I play well or I enjoy and smile and laugh about it and play well. I didn’t want to show any weakness and be upset.”
Bale was initially jeered by Real fans in their next game against Real Sociedad.
He said: “I still remember that game. I came on for the last 30 minutes, I was getting fully whistled, then by the end I was getting applauded. I played so well. In the car driving home, my agent called me and he was like, ‘You are literally insane. No one can deal with that type of pressure and come on and do those things – you’re just weird’. And I’m like, ‘Well luckily I’m mentally strong. If other people were in my situation, I’m not sure they would’ve coped’.”
Bale went on to help Real become champions of Spain that season before rejoining Spurs on loan before eventually leaving Madrid when his contract expired in 2022.
He retired after Wales finished bottom of their group at the last World Cup. Asked what three words he would put on a Wales flag nowadays, he replied: “Now, I would put family first. Probably golf second. Then health.”
Read the full interview online at British GQ.