Gareth Bale has been named Welsh Footballer of the Year
GARETH BALE has been named Welsh Footballer of the Year for a fourth year in a row.
The Real Madrid star beat former winner Joe Allen and Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey to take the title for the sixth time in seven years since 2010.
While last night's ceremony in Cardiff celebrated the most successful year in Welsh football history, the decision to heap further praise upon the Galactico came as little surprise.
Gareth Bale, 27, won the Champions League with Real Madrid before scoring three times as Wales stormed to the semi-finals of Euro 2016.
Wales manager Chris Coleman said: "You have to consider Gareth as probably the most successful British player to play abroad.
"To win two Champions League titles in three years is an unbelievable return and then you look at what he has done for Wales, it's remarkable.
"If you could put together a player with all the best attributes, he's got them all and he is only going to get better. He can take his football to another level."
Coleman, himself nominated for the FIFA World Manager of the Year, was presented with a FAW Special Award in recognition of ending Wales' 58-year wait to reach a major tournament.
Stoke midfielder Joe Allen, winner in 2010, was named both Fans and Players' Player of the Year, having carried his form from the Euros into the new season, scoring six goals for club and country already this season.
Coleman said: "Joe is such a gifted player that I'm certainly not surprised how he is playing or where he is playing.
"A player with that ability can play anywhere in midfield. As a holding player he always seems to have more time on the ball then others.
"He's fantastic at receiving the ball in tight areas, one touch and reversing the play. Now he is playing a more advance role with Stoke, he's being seen giving the last pass or scoring goals himself. He's a super player."
However Coleman was desperate to acknowledge Wales' unsung heroes who were part of the squad that created history in France last summer.
While Wales had a sprinkling of stardust in Bale and Ramsey, it was the supporting cast that made the team far greater than the sum of its parts with the likes of Wayne Hennessey, Ashley Williams and Joe Ledley, who recovered to play a key role at the tournament just 35 days after fracturing his leg.
Coleman said: "When we started the tournament, the unsung heroes were the guys who didn't play. That fantastic feeling we had and the unbelievable team spirit, it came from the boys who didn't play.
"There were lads who turned up every time for us and didn't get that much game time. It's much easier for the boys on the pitch, because they are right in the middle of it all the time. The boys who are on the fringes, it's much tougher for them.
"On the pitch, we had the obvious heroes – Bale, Rambo, Ash – but for me James Chester, Chris Gunter, Joe Ledley, on and off the pitch. I could name them all. Sam Vokes, Andy King and other guys who weren't playing in every game. We see them every day around the camp and they were fantastic. There shouldn't really be one stand-out – that was the beauty of it."
Coleman will need to call upon those support players after West Ham United defender James Collins withdrew from Saturday's crucial World Cup qualifier against Serbia
Collins wasdue to replace injured Ben Davies but Newcastle's Paul Dummett could make his competitive debut while Joe Walsh of MK Dons has been called into the squad.
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