Bale retained the top honour at the FWA awards dinner in Cardiff as he surpassed Mark Hughes and John Hartson, who both won the prize on three occasions.
It capped a successful year for the 25-year-old, having won the UEFA Champions League, Super Cup and the Copa del Rey with Real.
Bale, who also scooped the Vauxhall fans' player of the year for a fourth consecutive year, has scored 21 goals for both club and country in 2014 so far.
"It's been a fantastic year. I went to Madrid to win trophies and I've been lucky enough to do that," said Bale ahead of Wales' two home Euro 2016 qualifiers against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Cyprus on October 10 and 13.
"It's great to win the award. When you see all the names of the past winners' on the list, it makes me very proud to have won it.
"It's not just about me. Any individual success is down to the whole team and what we've done over the last 12 months."
New Tottenham defender Ben Davies was named young player of the year while Swansea City skipper Ashley Williams picked up the club player of the year award for the fourth successive year.
‘England have the players to win the World Cup – it’ll be tough for Thomas Tuchel to do a bad job, with the squad he has at his disposal’ Former Three Lions winger backs new boss after gentle qualifying draw
‘This is the hardest Manchester derby to call in years – Manchester United shouldn’t be petrified, it feels like Manchester City aren’t in control of any game at the moment’ Former Red Devils striker thinks a surprise result could be possible
