Craig Bellamy

Did You Know?

• Bellamy was born at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, the second of three boys.
• He suffers from asthma and made frequent hospital visits as a child to manage the condition.
• In 2018, he agreed terms to manage Oxford United but withdrew after the club was taken over during negotiations.

Club career

Bellamy began attending youth sessions with Cardiff City at age nine after encouragement from his father, but the club showed little interest. He then joined Bristol Rovers for two years before a scout from Norwich City spotted him. After impressing at a trial, he joined Norwich's youth development side, the Canary Rangers, and later moved to Norwich at age 15 to start his apprenticeship. His first year away from home was difficult; he described it as the hardest year of his life due to homesickness.

He made his professional debut with Norwich City in 1996. In 2000, he signed for Coventry City, breaking the club's record transfer fee, but suffered relegation in his only season. He joined Newcastle United the following year, helping the club achieve two top-four finishes during a four-year spell. After falling out with manager Graeme Souness in 2005, he spent part of the 2004–05 season on loan at Celtic, winning the Scottish Cup.

He then played one season each with Blackburn Rovers, where he was named player of the year, and Liverpool, helping the club reach the 2007 UEFA Champions League final. In 2007, he signed for West Ham United, but injury disrupted his time there. He joined Manchester City in 2009, then spent the 2010–11 season on loan at his boyhood club Cardiff City in the Championship. He returned to Liverpool the following season, winning the 2011–12 League Cup and reaching the FA Cup final.

He rejoined Cardiff City permanently in 2012, led them to the Premier League, and set a record by scoring for his seventh different club in the division before retiring in 2014.

International career

Bellamy first represented Wales at schoolboy level in 1994. He progressed through the under-17 and under-18 levels before being called up to the under-21 side at age 16, becoming the youngest player to represent that side. He sometimes asked Norwich officials to claim he was injured to avoid being named in the under-21 side, as he felt it set back his career. He was called into the senior Wales squad in 1998 by manager Bobby Gould.

He made his senior debut on 25 March 1998 as a substitute in a friendly against Jamaica at Ninian Park. He scored his first international goal on 3 June 1998 in a 3–0 victory against Malta. He became a regular in the senior squad during UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying and scored a late-winning goal against Denmark. Over the next fifteen years, he gained 78 caps and scored 19 goals.

He captained the side from 2007 to 2011, stepping down due to recurring injuries. He retired from international football after the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign. He also played for the Great Britain Olympic team at the 2012 Olympics in London, appearing five times and scoring once.

Style of play

Bellamy was described as having a dynamic style with quick, bursting technique and calmness under pressure. He began his career as a central midfielder but was moved further forward at Norwich, playing as both a winger and a centre-forward. He preferred a counter-attacking style, using his pace to exploit space behind defenders. As Premier League managers shifted toward favouring more physical strikers, he adapted to a wider role, studying wingers such as Franck Ribéry.

His former manager Mark Hughes said he loved having Bellamy on his teams because of the intensity he brought and his desire to affect the game every time he played. Hughes acknowledged Bellamy's reputation as sometimes difficult to work with but stated that if understood and supported, he would play his heart out. Louise Taylor of The Guardian highlighted his pace and high-calibre finishing ability. His best Premier League tally in a single season was 17 goals with Blackburn in 2005–06.

Personal life

Bellamy has said he is a big fan of both Liverpool and Cardiff City. He got together with Claire Jansen when they were teenagers in Cardiff, and they stayed a couple even as he trained away with Norwich City. While Claire worked at a local newsagent in Cardiff, their first child, Ellis, arrived when Bellamy was 17 and Claire was 16. Claire and Ellis stayed in Cardiff while Bellamy travelled back and forth to Norwich.

After he signed his first professional contract in 1996, the pair finally got their own place. Their second child, Cameron, was born in January 2001, and their third, Lexi, followed in 2007. Bellamy popped the question on 13 July 2005 at The Lowry Hotel in Manchester, and they tied the knot in June 2006 at St Bride’s Church in St. Brides-super-Ely, near Cardiff. Because Bellamy kept switching clubs, the family bought a permanent home in Peterston-super-Ely, with Bellamy living near whichever team he played for and heading home when he could.

They divorced in December 2012, with Claire citing unreasonable behaviour. In his autobiography, Bellamy wrote that she had simply had enough of the constant moves, his absences, his selfishness, and his dark moods. That book, GoodFella, came out in 2013, ghostwritten by Oliver Holt. In it, Bellamy admitted to severe depression, especially during long injury layoffs, and said he would go weeks or months without snapping out of it.

Those low periods often led to heavy drinking, including a two-day bender after Cardiff lost a playoff semi-final to Reading. In 2013, he got a driving ban for not naming himself as the driver of a car caught by a speed camera. In March 2019, he was banned again for 18 months after being caught over the alcohol limit while driving in Cardiff. Bellamy is a big fan of mixed martial arts and has backed fighters from Tillery Combat gym in Abertillery through his company Shin2Chin, supplying supplements, kit, and management advice. He also owns Cardiff Combat MMA gym.