We've been blessed, I think, in Wales with a long line of wonderful footballers, from Billy Meredith to John Charles, Mark Hughes, Ian Rush and Aaron Ramsey, to name but a few. I think, as a small nation, we've always punched above our weight with the talent that we've produced on the football field. Whilst I never saw that 1958 team play, nor do I remember the myriad of teams that came oh so close in the last century, I do remember vividly what Welsh football's last era was like, because I think we'll always look back at the first decade of this century as pre Bale. We had talented teams, great individuals and some near misses, but we never had a Bale.

Most of us can only dream of having the same skill in this Chamber as Gareth Bale possessed on a football field. His list of achievements is really quite incredible: Southampton debut at 16; a two-time Professional Footballers' Association players' player of the year; held the world record transfer fee; three La Liga titles; Copa del Rey; most Wales caps and goals for the men's team; and five—yes, five—UEFA Champions League trophies. Liverpool fans will remember that last one in particular, where Bale came off the bench in Kyiv against Liverpool and turned the game on its head with a magnificent goal and a man-of-the-match performance to near single-handedly win football's biggest trophy, outshining the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah on the world's biggest stage.

But it was with Wales where you could tell Bale was at his best. There's a reason he held that banner that said, 'Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order.' He was instrumental in probably the greatest summer of my life in 2016 as we overachieved beyond all our wildest dreams to take us to the Euro semi-final, and then repeated the heroics last year by taking us to our first world cup since 1958. He will be responsible for the highs that we as Wales football fans would never have thought possible pre Bale, and he's given us our confidence back, both on the football field and as a nation. I know I'm biased, but I think he's Wales's greatest ever player. There'll never be another Bale, but I'll be forever grateful we had this one. Diolch, Gareth.