Gareth Bale. Frank Worrall
won it since, ironically, Giggs in February 2007.
There was one other consolation after the defeat at Old Trafford – and it was a big one. Man City had only managed a 0-0 draw at Arsenal, so Spurs stayed in fourth place, still a point clear of their rivals.
One game down, three to go for Gareth and Co.
They would win two and lose one – but it was enough because one of those victories was against…Man City, away. On May 1, Tottenham beat Bolton 1-0 at the Lane and four days later headed back up north for the big date with City at the City of Manchester Stadium. A late goal from Crouch sealed the points for Tottenham as they scampered away from Manchester with a 1-0 win – and a potential £30 million windfall as they had now secured that vital fourth place finish in the Premier League, and with it a Champions League qualifying spot.
Tottenham now had 70 points to City’s 66, which meant the last match of the season away at Burnley was largely irrelevant. Gareth and the boys had done it…and in some style, too. He hailed the achievement as ‘fantastic’ and said he couldn’t wait to play in the Champions League. He also made it clear he loved it at White Hart Lane – and had never felt the need of going to another club to fulfil his ambitions. ‘He felt at home,’ says a Spurs source. ‘You could see that from the Tottenham dressing room at City afterwards as the team celebrated with each other – they were all friends as well as team-mates, and Gareth was a very popular lad indeed.’
The season couldn’t have ended better for Spurs, Gareth or the fans.
Well, maybe they could have won at Burnley…
But no one at the club was too anguished when they crashed 4-2 at Turf Moor in the final game of the season. And at least Gareth grabbed another goal – his third of the season for the club, all of which had come in the last six matches. Gareth opened the scoring with a fine drive on three minutes but tiredness inevitably affected the boys after that season-defining win at City just four days earlier. Redknapp admitted as much after the game, saying, ‘Perhaps I should have rested a few, but I wanted to give them the chance to finish the season off.’
To be fair, even if they had won at Turf Moor, they still would not have finished third in the table as, at the same time, Arsenal were thrashing Fulham 4-0 at the Emirates.
So the Gunners finished the campaign on 75 points, five ahead of Tottenham.
Gareth had certainly come on a bunch during the season and inevitably, as it concluded, there was talk that he might be a transfer target for other clubs. But, as we have already pointed out, he had already made it quite clear that he was happy at the Lane – and Redknapp certainly had no doubt he would stay at the club, saying he was ‘the future of this football club’.
Harry added, ‘We’re looking to build a team here. We wouldn’t be looking to sell players like him. His game has gone up so many levels this season. He’s got stronger, he’s a fantastic athlete, great ability. He can do everything. He’s got the ability to run all day. He’s grown up. He’s still only a boy, but physically he has got stronger this last year and he’s looking as good as any left-sided player in the country.
‘The ability to run like he does is amazing. He runs 60 yards, recovers, runs 60 yards again, recovers, runs 60 yards, he just doesn’t stop. When you are playing against him it must be very difficult because he just keeps going at you and going at you. Eventually, unless you are very fit, you are not going to run with him for 90 minutes.’
There was one final act in the drama. As if to prove that he backed his manager, club chairman Daniel Levy called Gareth to his office and presented him with a new contract as a reward for his brilliant development from January 2010 to the end of the season in May. Gareth had no hesitation in putting pen to paper on the four-year deal which would tie him to the club until 2014.
He was still only 20 and had played 70 times for Tottenham. After an unsteady start to his career at the Lane, Gareth Bale had settled and become a major player. But it was only the beginning of a remarkable surge to the top: yes, the next season would rocket him into a completely new universe of acclaim…and stardom.
As the 2010/2011 season dawned, Gareth Bale must have felt the usual nervous excitement. He had enjoyed a good summer break, relaxing and unwinding after the last busy season. But this pre-season also felt different than previous ones – and it seems Gareth felt differently about it, and the prospects it held. It was as if he knew that it would be his defining season: the one that would make him a recognised name in world football, not just at Spurs and in Wales.
Perhaps that explained his even more vigorous approach to pre-season training and an even more determined attitude as he launched into the pre-season friendlies. Yes, it was as if his moment had now come on the world footballing stage – and he would do everything in his power to ensure he didn’t fluff his lines.
A Spurs source said: ‘You could see it in his eyes and in his demeanour when we got down to pre-season work. It was almost as if he were possessed. He was like a demon in training and it was quickly apparent that his game had gone up to an altogether different level. Almost overnight, he had become a superstar.’
That theme was picked up by lifelong fan Stevie Turner. He told me: ‘Yes, he seemed to have got bigger and better. He reminded me of Cristiano Ronaldo – he had that big, tall frame and yet could dance around the opposition as if he were small like Aaron Lennon. And he must have been working on his conditioning – he certainly seemed much faster when he got the ball. He had become a phenomenon – he was like a tornado running down that wing. Even before he really came to prominence against Inter Milan, we had been seeing all the signs of his remarkable development.’
There were suggestions that the change had also been brought on by a sudden elevation of confidence – and that this in turn had been brought on by an attempt by one of the world’s biggest clubs to buy him in that summer. The Spurs source added: ‘Gareth had been watching a lot of the World Cup and that whetted his appetite for the new season. It made him think that he wanted to be part of games like that but, of course, the problem is that Wales rarely qualify. I got the impression that he decided that summer that he therefore needed to play in the biggest games at club level – which meant the Champions League.
‘There was a strong rumour that Real Madrid put in a bid for him during the summer, but it was rejected out of hand. Of course, any footballer worth their salt would have been interested if Real came in for them, but I was told that Gareth was happy enough staying at Spurs – as they would be in the Champions League, anyway, and he loves the club, the manager and especially the fans, who have always been on his side.’
Credence to the claim that Bale had been targeted by Real Madrid in the summer of 2010 came a couple of months later from then Wales national team boss John Toshack. He said: ‘It was a big-money bid – it’s big money to me anyway. You’ll have to ask Tottenham, they know about it. Gareth is aware people are looking at him and people are interested.’
When asked which club it was, Toshack would only say: ‘I wouldn’t do that out of confidence for the people who have informed me.’
But given that the former Liverpool frontman had managed at the Bernabeu during two spells in the late Eighties and early Nineties, and still had good contacts there, it was widely assumed he was talking about Real Madrid.
Pre-season went well. Gareth had not let his fitness drop that much during the weeks away from the Lane. He was not that kind of footballer. Being abstinent from booze and not indulging in food binges made it easy for him. It was Gareth who scored the only goal in the final pre-season friendly: the 1-0 win in Lisbon over Benfica.
The win was another big confidence booster. While Spurs would have to qualify for the Champions League proper via a play-off, Benfica