Wales hero Gareth Bale confirms England wanted him but he rejected them ...

Gareth Bale did not need to surprise starstruck kids at a junior club to prove the world’s most expensive footballer was still in touch with the green, green grassroots of home.

Hours before Bale sprang his ambush on Sully Sports Under-13s at their picturesque ground overlooking the Bristol Channel, he had been enjoying the biggest party in Welsh football history seven miles up the road.

Of Wales’ 11 goals on the road to the Euro 2016 finals in France next summer, Bale scored seven and supplied three assists. Not quite a one-man team, but the superhero’s cape is a perfect fit.

He also played all but three minutes of the qualifying campaign as Wales ended their 58-year wait for a place at international football’s top table.

Bale, 26, is so proud of the red jersey, he would not have had it any other way. And he is embarrassed that the three minutes he missed were due to cramp.If the Football Association’s genealogy department had their way, England would have poached Bale as a 15-year-old when Sven-Goran Eriksson was the Three Lions’ high priest of disappointment.

But as Real Madrid’s forward basked in the afterglow of a memorable party, there was less chance of Bale forsaking Wales than Cockney rhyming slang recitals at an eisteddfod.

Friends at his house in Madrid, watching Wales’ heroic defeat of England at the Rugby World Cup on TV, were left in little doubt about his allegiances.

Whether the ball is egg-shaped or in the back of the net, in patriot games the dragon slays Saint George every time.

“I had all my friends over to watch the England game, and I was very happy with the outcome. I let all my English friends know, don’t worry about that!”Bale for England? In theory, he qualifies – but it was a total non-starter when the FA came calling.

"I was really young at the time and my agent was involved, but it was literally a one-second conversation,” said Bale, who went to Whitchurch High School in Cardiff with Wales rugby captain Sam Warburton.

"I just said, ‘Stop – it’s never going to happen.’

"I’m from Wales and I love Wales. Everyone knows how much I love playing for Wales. My grandmother is English, but I’m Welsh and that’s it.

"It was never an option.”

Now Bale can dream of meeting England on French turf.

He may even bump into his Real Madrid team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo if Wales land in the same group as Portugal at the draw on December 12.

“Whoever we get, hopefully we can test ourselves against them", Bale added.

“It still feels like a dream that we’ve actually made it to the finals. Every campaign we start off saying we can do it, but there was a bit more belief this time.

“A few of us have more than 50 caps, and although the expectation went up and the pressure mounts with every game, we just tried to embrace it. As soon as we got the ball rolling, the momentum just took us.

“We were keeping clean sheets, we were nicking 1-0 wins, it was the perfect campaign.