On ITV’s This Morning show, a guest didn’t hold back when the possibility of Jude Bellingham being banned for England’s quarterfinals against Switzerland was discussed.
“UEFA’s headquarters are in Switzerland. If they ban Jude, we burn the place to the ground,” the guest fumed. His comment captured the mood of the nation days before the clash on Saturday night, especially about their undisputed star.
If not for the 21-year-old’s splendid, 95th-minute bicycle kick in the Round of 16 clash against Slovakia, a sub-par England would have been on the flight back home. The goal, his celebration, and the comeback it sparked only added to the hype around Bellingham.
England’s Jude Bellingham, right, scores his side’s first goal with an overhead kick during a round of sixteen match between England and Slovakia at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (AP Photo)
He may have showcased his class under the bright lights on a big Euros stage, but the Real Madrid star’s journey began on the humble grounds of Birmingham. And his career was shaped in the early years by Paul Robinson, who was Birmingham City’s U-21 when Bellingham played there.
Robinson sets the mood by narrating a story that underlines Bellingham’s class. It’s of his jersey number at the club – 22. “His jersey number came from adding all the positions he could play on the field,” Robinson tells The Indian Express. “He could play as a holding midfielder (4), get control of the ball in attacking midfield (8), as well as a second striker (10).”
The capacity to be an all-rounder on the pitch comes from an astonishing game IQ that Bellingham had even as a teenager. But Robinson, a former Birmingham City player, remembers almost shrugging his shoulders when he first heard the name Jude Bellingham.
“I was still playing at the time. He was 11 when I first heard about him. At such a young age, you don’t think too much about it. I never made a big thing of it.”
It wasn’t until Robinson transitioned to coaching the Birmingham academy kids and saw Bellingham train that he realised what the fuss was all about around the young boy.
“Straightaway, I was blown. I was more blown away with his intelligence of the game. The know-how of it. His understanding of formations, where he needed to be, was astonishing,” he says. “Again, he was still developing, there were still going to be a lot of mistakes, a lot of tidying up that we were going to work on but his mentality and understanding of football was something I hadn’t seen in a kid at that age. His mindset was: I want to be the best.”
An admirable trait for a teenager, Robinson believes, was Bellingham’s maturity to admit his shortcomings from an early age and nullify them as soon as possible. One such aspect of his game was heading.
Bellingham may have scored from a powerful header in England’s Euros opener against Serbia. From the timing of his run to the leap and the finish, everything looked picture-perfect.
But it wasn’t something that came naturally to him earlier. “Jude as a kid, was technically very poor at heading. We worked on that: me crossing the ball in, getting his timing to attack the ball, and trying to nail that contact.”
‘Steely side from his father’
While Bellingham the goal-scorer and chance-creator is given his due, especially from his freshman year at Real Madrid, the uglier side of his play is often disregarded.
So far in the Euros, he has drawn nine fouls in four games – more than Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe, and his captain Harry Kane. It’s an accurate marker to judge how highly the opposition regards Bellingham. Despite the tackles flying in thick and fast against him, Bellingham has largely remained unfazed.
Robinson believes the 21-year-old gets his steely side from his father, Mark Bellingham. A retired police sergeant, Bellingham Sr is a well-known name in England’s non-league football.
Jude Bellingham’s father Mark is a retired police sergeant. Bellingham Sr is a well-known name in England’s non-league football. (Jude Bellingham/Instagram)
Per some estimates, Mark scored more than 700 goals in what was a stellar semi-professional career. One that mentally prepared his elder son for his professional career. “The level at which Mark played, it meant physical football. So Jude’s been around. Growing up as a kid, he has watched his dad get kicked all over the place. So he has developed the same type of mentality: you’re going to get kicked, so you have got to get up and get on with it,” Robinson explains.
For Bellingham Jr, an early promotion to the U21 team also helped. “When he was 16, he played for our U21s team. He was coming up against more stronger, physical boys. You expect a young lad, who is technically good, getting more fouled at that age. Midfield players don’t like it, so they’re going to rough you up. Jude has grown in that sort of environment, conditioned to know that people are going to target him, to keep him quiet and out of the game.”
While Mark has gifted many traits to its greatest football son, Bellingham is boundlessly adored for what he did for the club, and what he means to the city.
“Jude will always be a Brummie in his roots,” says Robinson. “What he’s done, coming through the academy, what he did for the football club at the time, the money he earned for the football club. When they needed it, Jude was the one who brought the funds to make sure it was safe and secure to keep going. Will we ever see a lad from Birmingham, who goes down to play for Real Madrid, that’s the question we have to ask.”
