CRAIG Bellamy is a Welsh former footballer whose career is nothing short of impressive.
Since hanging up his boots he’s turned his hand to management.
Who is former Liverpool and Man City player Craig Bellamy?
Craig Douglas Bellamy is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a forward.
He was born on July 13, 1979, at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.
As a child Bellamy enjoyed watching Cardiff City at their then-home ground Ninian Park, with his dad who was a huge Bluebirds fan.
He also suffers from asthma and frequently made trips to the hospital to manage it.
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After the family moved to Trowbridge he joined his school’s football team at the age of seven.
Local team Pentwyn Dynamo began to take an interest in him but were put off by his small stature, so his father offered to form a team providing his son could find another players.
This led to the under-10s side of local team Caer Castell FC being formed.
By the age of 12, Bellamy became friends with older boys and was regularly drinking alcohol.
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By 14, he was barely attending school, smoking cigarettes and drinking every day, but denies ever using drugs.
He left school with no GCSEs.
In 1993, his brother introduced him to his future wife Claire, who Craig credits as a key factor in him pulling away from his early troubles.
They married on July 13, 2005, and the couple have three children – Ellis, Cameron and Lexi.
After youth stints at Bristol Rovers and Norwich City, Bellamy began his senior career at the latter, staying with the Canaries from 1996 until 2000.
He played for Liverpool during the 2006/2007 and 2011/2012 seasons winning the Community Shield in 2006 and League Cup in 2012.
In total he made 54 appearances for the Reds, scoring 13 times.
He played two seasons at Manchester City from 2009-2011, making 40 appearances and scoring 12 goals.
He retired from playing on May 22, 2014
During his career he played for the senior Wales squad from 1998 until 2013.
Craig was sacked after a 4-0 defeat to Italy in June 1999.
However, he returned at the end of the 1999-2000 season playing in friendlies against Brazil and Portugal.
He won 78 caps and scored six times.
Bellamy was also part of the Team GB football squad at the 2012 London Olympics.
What other clubs has Craig Bellamy played for?
Bellamy started out at First Division (before it became the Championship) club Norwich City in 1996, before joining Premier League side Coventry City in 2000.
He transferred to Newcastle United, where he played 93 times and scored 28 goals.
He spent 2005 on loan at Celtic before moving to Blackburn Rovers. –
After his first spell at Anfield, Bellamy signed for West Ham United in 2007, playing for them 24 times.
He then moved to Man City before joining Cardiff on loan for the 2010/2011 season.
He made 35 appearances for the Welsh side before returning to Liverpool.
From 2012–2014 he was back at Cardiff where he made a further 55 appearances
Where is Craig Bellamy now?
He retired from playing on May 22, 2014, and joined Cardiff’s coaching staff as the player development manager in 2016.
He was appointed under-21 team coach for Belgian side Anderlecht in June 2019, after his former Man City teammate Vincent Kompany was made manager.
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He stepped down from the role in September 2021 due to mental health issues.
He again joined Kompany in 2022, as assistant manager at Burnley.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
