The Welshman has enjoyed a successful year and inspired an entire nation, but he still won’t take the prize.
In just under two weeks time the BBC will announce their annual Sports Personality of the Year at a ceremony in Glasgow, and though the list is comprised of some of the most impressive athletes the UK has to offer, there is really only one winner – but he won’t get it.
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Despite all of its flaws, the number one sport in the UK is still football, and on this year’s list only one player makes the cut: Gareth Bale.
Bale is usually guarded from the acrimonious media glare because he’s not a member of the England national team, doesn’t fall out of nightclubs at 3am, womanise, or take his good fortune for granted. He’s a family man setting the world alight at one of the biggest clubs in the world, and by and large the whole country is please to see him doing well.
That’s the kind of character that the BBC likes. Still clinging on to their family values, Bale is a handsome face that knows how to kick a ball well – it sounds like he’s on to an absolute winner.
There is generally a air of skepticism when a British player moves overseas. From the ’70s through to the early ’00s Brits fled on a semi-regular basis to mixed results, but it is a stark rarity these days. Bale, though, has proved the doubters wrong, picking up a Champions League winners medal in his first season, and striking up a partnership with one of the greatest footballers of the planet.
But not only is he displaying strong form with his club, he is in the midst of inspiring the Welsh football community back to life. Wales currently sit in second place of their European qualifying group for Euro 2016 and are undefeated after four games – two of which were hard fought draws against Belgium and Bosnia.
Wales haven’t qualified for a major tournament since 1958, and Bale is currently having more of an impact on the side that Ryan Giggs – a legend in his own right – ever did for the Dragons despite his long and colourful career at club level.
But that won’t count for much. Football has taken too much of a kicking recently with continuous allegations of corruption and racism, amongst other things, so voters will turn their attentions elsewhere to crown a winner.
Bale is doing an excellent job out in Spain, and should his fortunes for club and country continue he could well find himself in the running for next year’s gong, too.
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