Gareth Bale and the 11 Best British and Irish Football Exports
From Southampton to Tottenham Hotspur, to an £86 million move to Real Madrid—Gareth Bale is one of few British players to move overseas and rarer still, one who can be considered a success.
But who else has really "made it" on foreign shores? Over the following slides we take a look at Bale and 10 more players who have flourished in a league outside the British Isles.
Chosen for the silverware they won, the impact they made and the popularity they found at their respective European clubs, these footballing exports are arranged in an order that reflects their success, with the best coming in at No. 1.
Agree with the choices? Disagree? Let us know below.
Honourable Mentions
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A selection of players who did not make the final slideshow, here are some honourable mentions (note, this is not an exhaustive list):
- Gerry Hitchens spent nine years in Italy with Inter Milan, Torino, Atalanta and Cagliari. As seen on Footballitalia.net, no footballer from the British Isles played in the country as long as Hitchens.
- Paul Gascoigne scored just six goals and did not win any honours in his three-year stay with Lazio. However, the former Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur man did become a cult hero at the Stadio Olimpico, where he is celebrated to this day.
- Paul Ince enjoyed reasonable success with Inter Milan, after leaving Manchester United in 1995. He made 63 appearances for the club before leaving for Liverpool in '97.
- Michael Owen spent just one year with Real Madrid, after leaving Liverpool in 2004. The striker managed to score 14 goals in 36 games (20 starts) and could boast the best goals-per-minute ratio in La Liga that season.
- Graeme Souness won the Coppa Italia with Sampdoria in 1984/85. He spent one more season with the Italian side, before signing for Glasgow Rangers in 1986.
- Steve Archibald won La Liga with Barcelona in 1984/85—the Scottish striker on the books at Camp Nou for four years, before joining Hibernian.
- After joining Sampdoria from Manchester City, Trevor Francis—alongside Graeme Souness—helped the Italian club to their first-ever Coppa Italia title.
- Born in Canada, yet eligible to represent both Wales and England (he chose the latter), Owen Hargreaves won a glut of silverware in over 200 games for Bayern Munich before returning "home" to England.
- In his two years at Monaco, John Collins won the French championship in 1997 and played in the two-legged Champions League semi-final against Juventus in 1998.
- Nicknamed "Baby Messi," as reported by Stephen McGowan in the Daily Mail, and said to be a genuine up-and-coming talent, Ryan Gauld's career is one to watch. The 18-year-old Scot signed for Sporting Lisbon from Dundee United over the summer.
11. Paul Lambert
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In 1996, Paul Lambert swapped the Scottish Premier League for the Bundesliga to join Ottmar Hitzfeld's Borussia Dortmund.
The former St. Mirren and Motherwell man did not spend long with "Die Borussen" but his single season at the club was one to remember.
On his debut, Lambert scored against Bayer Leverkusen and bagged an assist in his second outing. He appeared in all but three league games that season and played almost every minute of every game as Dortmund chased their first (and only) Champions League title.
In the final against Juventus, deployed in midfield to keep a certain Zinedine Zidane quiet, the Scot registered an assist for Karl-Heinz Riedle's opening strike in a 3-1 win and scooped the Man of the Match award.
Dortmund's 1997 victory saw Lambert become the first British player to win the European Cup with a non-British club, as seen on BBC Sport. Following 44 games with the German outfit, Lambert signed for Celtic in January 1998.
What they say:
Recalling his Dortmund arrival, Lambert told David Hytner in the Guardian:
"There was unbelievable self-doubt, that I couldn't handle that company because when I saw the players ... He'd won Serie A, someone had won the World Cup, someone had won the European Championship, the Bundesliga titles ... and I'm coming from Motherwell on a free transfer. I was worth a bottle of Coke. Jesus!
"
10. David Platt
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After three prolific seasons with Aston Villa, where he was voted PFA Player of the Year in 1989/90, David Platt was sold to Bari in July 1991 for a club-record fee of £5.5 million.
The Englishman's first season on Italian soil was a success and, despite Bari's relegation to the Italian second tier, Platt managed to find the back of the net 11 times in 29 games for his new club.
Less than a year after going to Stadio San Nicola, Platt was on the move again and, despite the best efforts of Sampdoria team captain Roberto Mancini to lure him to his side, Platt opted to join Juventus for £6.5 million.
"Every two weeks he would be on the phone, pressing me." Platt said of Mancini to The Independent's Ian Herbert in 2011.
Despite winning the 1993 UEFA Cup with Juve (albeit watching the final from the sidelines), the midfielder was part of Giovanni Trapattoni's starting XI just 16 times during the 1992/93 campaign, which prompted another change of scenery upon the season's end. This time it would be to Sampdoria where Platt would play alongside Mancini—his future Manchester City managerial colleague.
The Lancashire-born player won the Coppa Italia during his first season in Genoa, where he made 56 appearances and scored 17 goals over two campaigns with the club, according to Transfermarkt.
Following four years and three different clubs in Italy, Platt was sold to Arsenal in 1995.
What they say:
Platt discussed his move to Sampdoria, as quoted on FIFA.com:
"I've always suspected I wasn't on Sampdoria's list that summer, because their president wanted to sign Marco Osio from Parma but he ran the transfer list past Robbie [Mancini], who had much of the say. I soon made the move.
"
9. David Beckham
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David Beckham, after years of success with Manchester United, put pen to paper with Real Madrid in July 2003.
His first piece of silverware followed soon after, in Madrid's Spanish Super Cup win against Real Mallorca—Beckham's second competitive game with his new club.
After playing a big part for Madrid in his first three seasons at the Bernabeu, the arrival of Jose Antonio Reyes, paired with news that Beckham had signed a pre-contract agreement to join LA Galaxy, saw him frozen out of the side by manager Fabio Capello and he struggled to win his place back in the team.
When he did, the Spanish side hit a rich vein of form and went on to win the La Liga title—causing rumoured attempts to get Beckham to stay, as reported by Sid Lowe in The Telegraph. Well-liked by the club's fans, it was a bittersweet final season for Beckham who made the starting XI just 14 times.
Two MLS Cups featured in his subsequent five-year stay with LA Galaxy, where he took in two loan spells with AC Milan before signing for Paris Saint-Germain in 2013. In his six months at the Parc des Princes, Beckham won the Ligue 1 title—the club's first since 1993/94.
What they say:
As the Guardian's Sid Lowe wrote about Beckham's time at Madrid:
"There is still admiration in the way supporters talk about him, even if they know he was not as talented as Zidane or Ronaldo and if they analyse his time there they will see a good footballer but probably not a star, three decent enough years bookended by two superb spells. Some players were held responsible for Real's decline, Beckham was never one of them. He deserved better.
"
8. Chris Waddle
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Sandwiched in-between his spells at Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield Wednesday, Chris Waddle spent three successful years in France with Olympique Marseille.
Signed by L'OM president Bernard Tapie in 1989 for a fee of £4.5 million, the winger won three back-to-back Division One (now Ligue 1) titles and alongside the likes of Jean-Pierre Papin and Abedi Pele, played in the 1991 European Cup Final against Red Star Belgrade—in which the French side lost on penalties.
The Guardian's Rob Bagchi described in 2012, how Waddle was loved by the club's fans:
"He had worked at winning over the Marseille public with the same diligence he had once applied to transforming himself from a one-footed, orthodox, left-winger into a two-footed attacker. He did this by entertaining the crowd with comical facial expressions, celebrations and stunts such as borrowing a mobile phone from a steward before taking a corner.
"
The former England international returned to England in 1992, joining Sheffield Wednesday where he reached both the FA Cup and League Cup finals in his first season at Hillsborough. In 1993 he was voted the Football Writers' Footballer of the Year.
What they say:
In 2008, Waddle told FourFourTwo:
"Before the European Cup final when we lost to Red Star Belgrade, I got told by a lot of French journalists that if we won the game, I’d win the European Footballer of the Year. But we lost and it went to Jean-Pierre. I was glad for him though; he was a great goalscorer and helped me a lot when I first joined the club.
"
7. Liam Brady
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Liam Brady signed for Juventus in 1980, after clocking up over 200 appearances for Arsenal.
The Republic of Ireland international spent two seasons with the Italian side, where he won back-to-back league winners' medals wearing the No. 10 shirt.
Sold by Juve in 1982, Brady went on to play for Sampdoria, Inter Milan and Ascoli before returning to England in 1987 to join West Ham United.
What they say:
Forza Italian Football described Brady's time in Turin:
"His vision, close control, tactical nous and most importantly his masterful left foot; meant that he and calcio were a match made in heaven. Juventus already had world class stars in the shape of [Roberto] Bettega, [Gaetano] Scirea and [Dino] Zoff, but they were missing a trequartista that could take them to the next level; Brady was that player.
"
6. Glenn Hoddle
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In 1987, Glenn Hoddle left the successes of his Tottenham Hotspur career behind and signed for Monaco—then-managed by Arsene Wenger.
The midfielder, who had spent 12 years as a senior professional at White Hart Lane, slid seamlessly into life in France where he helped Monaco to their first French title in six years, was named the Best Foreign Player in France and lifted the 1991 French Cup.
Speaking to FIFA.com, Hoddle said:
"I went to Monaco and worked with Wenger, we were very successful and I loved every single second of it, winning the league and a European trophy. But it was European football itself that really captured me.
"
The gifted playmaker spent four seasons with Monaco, where he scored 27 goals in 69 matches.
What they say:
"Monaco was tailor-made for Glenn," commented fellow Englishman and Monaco teammate Mark Hateley on Channel4.com. "He always gave the impression that he could play with a cigar in one hand and a glass of champagne in the other. It was style all the way."
5. Gary Lineker
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Fresh from winning the Golden Boot at the 1986 World Cup with England, Gary Lineker moved from Everton to Barcelona—signed by English manager Terry Venables.
In his first season in Spain, Lineker scored 21 goals—including a hat-trick in a 3-2 Clasico win against Real Madrid, which made him an instant hero to Barca's fans. During his three years with the club, Lineker won the Copa del Rey and the European Cup Winners' Cup, before being moved to the right side of attack, failing to impress and eventually losing his place in the team under Johan Cruyff.
Lineker returned to England to join Tottenham Hotspur in 1989.
What they say:
Looking back at the final chapter of his Barcelona career, Lineker told the Guardian's Donald McRae:
"He played me on the wing so I'd get the hump and want to go. It was just a bit of a game and I had no problem with Johan. I liked him. He's a know-it-all—about all things in life—but apart from that he was great. And he was always the best player in training. He was unbelievable, even then.
"
4. Gareth Bale
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As the only currently active player in this slideshow, there is still a lot more to come from 25-year-old Gareth Bale at Real Madrid.
On the back of an outstanding season in the Premier League, in which he was named PFA and Football Writers' Player of the Year, the Welshman became the world's most-expensive player when he joined Madrid from Tottenham Hotspur in 2013.
Upon his unveiling at the Bernabeu, club president Florentino Perez told the assembled media (h/t BBC Sport), "We are the most demanding club in the world but we will always be by your side."
The demands of a club full of international superstars has not fazed Bale, who scored 22 goals and registered 19 assists (in all competitions) in his first term at the club. This included a winning goal in the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona and a strike in the Champions League final win against Atletico Madrid.
Winning the Copa del Rey AND La Decima, Madrid's 10th European Cup, Bale's first season with Los Blancos was a resounding success.
With six goals and five assists (in all competitions) so far in 2014/15, expect that success to keep on building for some time. In the future, Bale could be a lot higher up this list.
What they say:
Following Madrid's UEFA Super Cup win against Sevilla in August, Cristiano Ronaldo told the Mirror's John Cross, "He is very important for us. I understand him, he understands me, I love playing with him."
3. Steve McManaman
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After making 364 appearances for Liverpool, Steve McManaman joined Real Madrid on a free transfer in 1999.
In his 157 outings with the Spanish side, the former England international won two La Liga titles, two Spanish Super Cups, the UEFA Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup. However, it was Madrid's two Champions League titles that really stand out on McManaman's CV.
Winning the European title in 1999/2000 made the Liverpool-born player the first Englishman ever to win the trophy with a foreign club. In the 3-0 win against Valencia, he scored this volley—Madrid's second goal of the game—and was also named Man of the Match.
Despite his playing time becoming increasingly limited as the Galactico era took hold at the Bernabeu, in 2001/02, McManaman lifted the Champions League silverware for a second time, following a Hampden Park final against Bayer Leverkusen.
The winger joined Manchester City in 2003 and hung up his boots in 2005. He remains one of the best players to leave Britain to experience life in another league.
What they say:
As described in McManaman's profile on RealMadrid.com:
"In only four seasons, McManaman won the hearts of Madrid's followers. The mixture of his gentlemanly nature both on and off the pitch, combined with teamwork and quality made sure that this Englishman was one of the most loved players by the fans.
"
2. Kevin Keegan
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Kevin Keegan joined Hamburg in 1977, just one season after lifting the European Cup and triumphing in the former First Division with Liverpool.
His first few months in Germany did not go according to plan, with Hamburg losing out to Liverpool in the UEFA Super Cup with an aggregate score of 7-1 and Keegan sent off for punching an opponent out cold in a pre-season friendly.
Things improved as Keegan settled into life in Hamburg, and 12 goals for his new side saw the former England international win the 1978 Ballon d'Or.
The following season, the striker—affectionately nicknamed "Mighty Mouse" by Hamburg fans—was again voted European Footballer of the Year as he helped "Die Rothosen" scoop their first league title since 1959/60.
In his final term with the club, Keegan narrowly missed out on winning the European Cup after being beaten 1-0 by Nottingham Forest in the final, and Hamburg were also pipped to a second consecutive league title by Bayern Munich, who finished the season just four points ahead.
In summer 1980, after 90 appearances and 32 goals for Hamburg, Keegan made a return to England to join Southampton.
What they say:
As quoted by Luke Ginnell on These Football Times, Keegan said in a recent interview, "Going to Germany, it was a tough one. Five or six years at Liverpool and I'd run my race there. I just fancied a challenge, and Germany was my challenge."
1. John Charles
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John Charles was the original big-name Welsh player to get a headline-making move to an overseas club.
Nicknamed the "Gentle Giant," the 6'2" Charles began life as a centre-half with Leeds, but his versatility saw him switched to a centre-forward's role in 1952/53, a season in which the Welshman scored 26 league goals (h/t Brian Glanville in the Guardian).
In 1957 his £65,000 move from Leeds United to Juventus almost doubled the existing British transfer record, as seen on FIFA.com.
After his switch to Serie A, Charles made an immediate impact with the Italian club, where he scored the match-winner in each of his first three games. He went on to make 155 appearances for Juve and scored 93 goals, won three league titles and lifted the Coppa Italia twice.
Adored by the club's fans, in 1997 supporters voted Charles as Juventus' best-ever foreign player.
What they say:
Roberto Bettega—former striker and vice-president at Juve told FIFA.com in 2004, "John was a person who interpreted the spirit of Juventus in the best possible manner, and also represented the sport in the best and purest way."
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