It's the day everyone in Wales was dreading.
Gareth Bale has officially announced his retirement from professional football, confirming the news in a shock statement on his official Twitter page on Monday afternoon.
The announcement has sparked reaction from across the game.
Read more: Gareth Bale net worth and his other business interests after announcing retirement
For fans, it's a time to look back and show appreciation for a generational talent, the likes of which Welsh football might not ever see again. But for Bale himself, attention now turns to what comes next.
The 33-year-old is currently based in Los Angeles, after completing a move to MLS side LAFC back in the summer, but home has never been too far away from his mind.
Bale has a number of business interests on these shores, which may well keep him busy now he's made the decision to hang up his boots. You can read about those interests and his net worth here.
If he does decide to come back, he certainly won't be giving up too much of the glitz and glamour that comes with a place in California.
The former Tottenham star currently owns a £4m mansion in the Vale of Glamorgan, which was approved for expansion two years ago.
It currently features six bedrooms, a dressing room, study, and a three-hole custom golf course in the garden.
The Welshman's love of golf is obviously well documented, and this mini-course features replicas of three of the most famous holes in the world - the 17th hole at Sawgrass , the 'postage stamp' 8th at Royal Troon and the 12th at the Augusta National.
"I had a lovely bit of land here and it was something that I really wanted to do and I decided that I would love to make a dream come true and build a mini golf course in my house," Bale said at the time.
"I did my research online and I found Southwest Greens. I wanted to do a lot of low maintenaince.
"We came up with a big concept of what I wanted to do. We loved the idea of it and went from a plain piece of land to building what we have now.
"It was a lot of hard work and a lot of craftmanship. It's so much better than I ever thought it could be."
Whatever happens from hereon in, Bale's wife Emma Rhys-Jones will be by his side.
The pair were married in the summer of 2019 on the tiny Spanish island of Tagomago, with just 60 guests attending the exclusive and private ceremony.
Proceedings on the island were reportedly so private that guests were only told the precise location 24 hours before and had to hand over their mobile phones to ex-SAS security guards.
The couple have been together for more than a decade, and currently have four children together. The first, Alba Violet, born in 2012, followed by Nava Valentina, born in 2016, Axel Charles, born in May 2018 and Xander Frank Bale, who they welcomed in July, 2021.
Wales football fans first got a glimpse of Bale the family man during Euro 2016. as the Wales squad celebrated victory over Northern Ireland in the last 16. Bale emerged onto the pitch with his daughter Alba Violet, then aged three.
He and Emma became childhood sweethearts after they met at Whitchurch High School in Cardiff and got engaged in July 2016 during Bale's birthday weekend
Read more:
Gareth Bale announces immediate retirement: Live updates and reaction
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