READING FC defender Chris Gunter has been crowned Wales Player of the Year – ending Gareth Bale’s four-year reign.

The 28-year-old collected the award at the Football Association of Wales presentation ceremony near Cardiff last night.

Gunter took the main prize after an incredible run in the Wales team under the late Gary Speed and now Chris Coleman.

He has won a staggering 81 international caps and looks certain to pass Neville Southall’s all-time record of 92 within the next few years.

You have to go back to October 2010 and a 4-1 defeat to Switzerland for the last time Gunter missed a Wales fixture, on that occasion through suspension.


Since then he has clocked up an incredible 61 international appearances on the trot and has been an integral part of a resurgent Wales team that reached the Euro 2016 semi finals and could qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.


With Gunter taking the top award at the Vale of Glamorgan, six-time winner Bale had to settle for the players’ player of the year gong voted for by his peers.

Royals midfielder Dave Edwards also collected a trophy last night as the ex-Wolves star picked up the Wales media award after a decade’s service.

Gunter and Edwards will now rejoin their Wales teammates ahead of two crucial World Cup qualifiers in Georgia this Friday and home to Republic of Ireland next Monday.