Leeds United star will never forget the day he had Spurs' Gareth Bale in his back pocket: View | OneFootball

FLW look back at Sam Byram's performance for Leeds United against Gareth Bale and Spurs in 2013.

Sam Byram re-signed for Leeds United last summer following the club’s relegation to the Championship. The full-back had initially left the Whites back in 2016 to join West Ham, before ending up at Norwich City three years later.

Leeds had taken their former right-back on trial as they weighed up whether to sign Byram on a free transfer. He impressed during pre-season and earned himself a contract in West Yorkshire to return to the club where it all began for him.

A one-year deal was agreed for the then 29-year-old to make his return to Leeds and reunite with Daniel Farke, with an automatic trigger if he surpassed a certain number of games, which has since been triggered since to retain his services for the 2024/25 season.

The club have already said farewell to plenty of full-backs this summer, with Luke Ayling, Stuart Dallas, Cody Drameh, and Jamie Shackleton all ending their time at the club, but one who remained after he surpassed the expectations of many is Byram.

Sam Byram's impact at Leeds United

Since his return, he has been a consistent and reliable performer at right or left-back. He switched between the two over the course of the season, having to fill in for Junior Firpo during the first half of the campaign, and that has seen him meet the clause in his deal to remain for another year.

However, in many ways, the injury-plagued defender has seen his best days in his career finish already, with Byram one of the hottest prospects in the Championship during his first spell with the club from Neil Warnock showing faith in him in pre-season in 2012, all the way up until his exit for West Ham in 2016.

The full-back has admitted he regrets leaving Elland Road in 2016 under Massimo Cellino, after the Leeds owner offered him a new contract on reduced terms, leading to his exit. He secured a high-profile switch in January 2016 to the Premier League Hammers for a reported fee of around £4 million.

Byram was a popular returnee last summer, given how well-known he is to the Leeds fanbase, as he came through the ranks at Elland Road, and would go on to make almost 150 appearances for the club in his first stint. He was able to contribute well last year, despite Leeds ultimately coming up short, with Byram starting in 27 of the 37 games he featured in during 2023/24.

The jury remains out on how long Leeds will retain him for due to a poor injury record at this stage, but if Byram can stay fit enough again, then he has previously proved an impressive operator at this level and could well receive a further extension if he continues on his current trajectory, irrespective of which league Leeds are in next year.

It's not abundantly clear what is next for Byram's Leeds career, with the defender turning 31 this month but impressing in both full-back positions, and providing Farke with that versatility. He is also a player the German knows well and continuity could be a reason to extend his deal, but injuries have caught up to him in the second half of the season.

He has plenty of Premier League and second tier experience. However, even if the ceiling in terms of his quality and standard of performance is not as high as Firpo nor Jayden Bogle, Byram has proven he can still contribute. Although his place in the pecking order has also dropped due to Bogle and Isaac Schmidt's arrivals.

Injuries have held Byram back in many ways from fulfilling his early potential over the years. Despite that, there is one game in particular that will live long in the memory for many Leeds fans.

Sam Byram pockets Gareth Bale in 2-1 Leeds United win against Spurs

Leeds sent Tottenham crashing out of the FA Cup with a famous fourth-round victory at Elland Road back in 2013. Luke Varney opened the scoring when he ran clear to give the Championship side an early lead against the Premier League giants.

Ross McCormack then made it 2-0 after more poor defending allowed him to turn inside Steve Caulker and slam home. McCormack's stunner may have taken the plaudits that day in a famous win at Elland Road, but Sam Byram's performance was outstanding against a soon-to-be record-breaking forward, and perhaps the Premier League's best player that season - Gareth Bale.

Despite a clip going viral from that game, Byram kept the Premier League Player of the Year quiet, just months before Bale completed a world-record transfer to Real Madrid.

It was one of his quietest and least impactful displays and up against a 20-year-old right-back, in what may well be the magnum opus fixture of Byram's career to date, as he pocketed the world-class winger for the full match outside of this one piece of trickery to turn Byram.

It was a precious moment for Bale in the game, as he struggled to get any joy down the left flank with Byram in his way.

Perhaps the Whites will lean on younger, less injury-prone options at full-back instead for 2025/26, but once upon a time, Byram had plenty of potential and was the next big thing to have come out of the club's academy, as this game illustrated. Not many players in all of Europe kept Bale quiet that year, but Byram was one of them.

His impressive and mature performances at an early age proved to be a real feature of his game, and part of the reason Warnock handed him his chance in West Yorkshire following Lee Peltier's pre-season injury. Games such as the clash with Spurs are part of the reason why so many Leeds fans were thrilled to see him return last summer.

After a promising early start to his footballing career, it’s fair to say that Byram’s trajectory as a player didn’t really take off as many expected it would after that display against Bale, with injuries restricting the impact he could make with the Hammers, and at his last club Norwich, too.

However, it's certain to live long in the memory for both Byram and Leeds fans alike, during a frankly unforgettable day at Elland Road.