Petitions calling for the Prince of Wales Bridge to be renamed in honour of Gareth Bale have been quashed before they even get off the ground.
Wales' talisman announced this week he was hanging up his boots aged 33 having led his country to a first World Cup in 64 years last year.
A petition submitted to the UK Government and Parliament on January 11 was titled: "Consider changing the name of the current Prince of Wales Bridge to Gareth Bale Bridge or Y Bont Bale", with further details saying: "Gareth Bale is well loved, respected and revered here in Wales and his contribution to his nation deserves honouring in some way hence the request to rename the bridge."
However, that petition was rejected by the House of Commons Petitions Committee, with the website listing the reasons as: "It’s about honours or appointments. We can't accept petitions about honours or appointments. This includes requests for public infrastructure to be named in honour of an individual. We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards."
Another petition, submitted on January 10, calling for the Bridge, formerly the Second Severn Crossing, to be renamed the Gareth Bale Bridge was also rejected for the same reasons. Further details for that proposed petition had said: "We would like the name of the Severn Bridge (currently The Prince of Wales Bridge) to be changed to honour the Welsh football legend Gareth Bale who recently retired. The Severn Bridge is synonymous with entry into Wales from England, yet it is named after the 'Prince of Wales' despite the fact that the Prince of Wales is never from Wales and nobody in Wales got a say in the name of this bridge. We would like this amended quickly to honour Gareth Bale for all he's done to promote Wales."
Former Southampton, Tottenham and Real Madrid forward Bale made his final competitive appearance during Wales’ World Cup group fixture with England on November 29.
The Welsh Parliament does not own the bridge. The renaming of the crossing took place in 2018 to mark the 70th birthday year of Prince Charles, the then Prince of Wales. That year also marked 60 years since he was given the title by the late Queen, who awarded him the title at the closing ceremony of the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff in 1958 when Charles was nine years old. Now, of course, King Charles III's son and heir Prince William is Prince of Wales, in light of his father ascending the throne.
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