First ever welsh player in Real Madrid

In the coming weeks Gareth Bale is going to move from Tottenham to Real Madrid and we are going to follow here every step he takes.

No player from Wales has ever played for Real Madrid, but Bale's fellow countryman John Benjamin Toshack was Real's manager in 1989/90 and again in 1999 with little success.

In fact few british players have showed their abilities in the spanish side. The first ever to do so was the scottish  John Fox Watson, who moved from Fulham to Madrid at the beginning of season 1948-49 and played just 1 game but became coach until the end of the year. The next one was the english Laurie Cunningham who played for Real between 1979 and 1983 with little success due to the many injuries he suffered.

In the most recent times, Steve McManaman played between 1999 and 2003 and never had a very important role in a team with big stars like Raul, Roberto Carlos and Figo, but he was much loved by Real's fans because he took part in the winning of 2 Champions Leagues and because he was a truly gentleman.

In the 2000s Michael Owen was a big disappointment, Jonathan Woodgate couldn't show his skills suffering injury after injury and David Beckham achieve great success personally, although he played for Real in a period of time with little success, with the Spanish championships dominated by FC Barcelona