We’re republishing one of the best of DailyMail+ Sport from 2025 – the unique, in-depth tales that our subscribers love. Right here, we take a look at the person lurking behind England’s biggest expertise in a technology.
It was August, at a stadium in Hamburg, when a problem that haunts the FA’s stewardship of the England soccer workforce however which has remained largely within the shadows, burst into the general public area for the primary time.
Mark Bellingham, the daddy of Actual Madrid celebrity Jude Bellingham and rising Borussia Dortmund expertise Jobe Bellingham, confronted Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl within the tunnel at St Pauli’s Millerntor-Stadion on the finish of a sport through which Jobe had been substituted at half-time on his Bundesliga debut.
Mr Bellingham was stated to have expressed his ‘disappointment’ to Kehl about his youthful son’s removing. He was stated to have grown ‘emotional’ in regards to the workforce’s cautious model of play.
Euphemisms are an exquisite factor. I do know an growing variety of individuals to whom Mr Bellingham has expressed ‘disappointment’. It isn’t fairly, apparently.
After the incident, Dortmund reiterated a ban on brokers and relations from the dressing room space. ‘We’re all disillusioned with yesterday’s consequence,’ Kehl stated. ‘And but, the energetic space is and stays reserved for gamers, coaches and administration, not households and advisers. That gained’t occur once more. Now we have clearly knowledgeable everybody concerned of this.’
To many throughout the sport, the experiences of Mark Bellingham’s behaviour got here as no shock. Rely me amongst that quantity.
Mark Bellingham’s penchant for tirades burst into the general public area final month when he bumped into the Borussia Dortmund dressing room final month
Bellingham Snr, alongside along with his spouse Denise, are fiercely protecting of their prodigiously gifted sons, Jude and Jobe
Jude’s presentation at Actual Madrid in 2023, with the household all becoming a member of him
I had an encounter with him at Wembley earlier than the Champions League Closing between Madrid and Dortmund in 2024 the place he was so hostile and impolite it was humorous. I’ve talked about it earlier than however it’s price retelling.
A few hours earlier than the sport, through which Jude was beginning for Madrid, I went right down to the place Mr Bellingham was sitting in Wembley’s decrease tier and launched myself.
I advised him how impressed I had been along with his son’s efficiency at a Actual Madrid media day the week earlier than and the way it had been a masterclass in communication.
It didn’t go effectively.
‘Which son?’, he stated. ‘I’ve acquired two sons, you understand,’ he went on, his voice charged with anger. I apologised and stated I had meant his elder son and that it was a silly mistake. ‘Yeah, it was a silly mistake,’ Mr Bellingham stated. ‘Lots of people make that mistake and it actually p****s me off.’
I ought to have accepted defeat at that time however I stored digging.
I advised him my greatest mate had been taught French by Mr Bellingham’s dad at Southend Excessive Faculty for Boys within the Eighties and that he was certainly one of his favorite lecturers. Mr Bellingham seemed away whereas I used to be nonetheless speaking, part-bored, part-contemptuous. ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah,’ he stated.
That was gentle by Mark Bellingham’s requirements. Increasingly members of the written and broadcast media have their very own battle tales.
A couple of months in the past, a colleague of mine at one other organisation, a tremendous younger journalist already extensively revered within the sport, was invited by the FA to observe an intra-squad England Beneath 21s match behind-closed-doors at St George’s Park.
Jobe Bellingham was enjoying within the match and Mark Bellingham was watching from the touchline. Conscious that Mr Bellingham, a former sergeant within the West Midlands Police who has guided his sons’ careers with appreciable knowledge and shrewdness, acts as their consultant, the journalist was eager to look at each cheap expectation of privateness and waited till after the sport to talk to him.
Mark Bellingham is a former sergeant within the West Midlands Police and has guided his sons’ careers with appreciable knowledge and shrewdness
Jude and Jobe have each made the change to Borussia Dortmund, with Jude now Actual Madrid’s greatest star
He needed to ask Mark Bellingham about rumours of Jobe’s impending transfer to Dortmund from Sunderland as a result of he knew it may need repercussions for his possibilities of having the ability to play within the Beneath 21 European Championship, which England went on to win however which clashed with the Membership World Cup, which Dortmund have been to be concerned in.
When he requested the query, the journalist was met with a stream of invective that was disagreeable sufficient and hostile sufficient for him to be startled and angered by Mark Bellingham’s behaviour.
Later, the FA, whose officers have been stated to be mortified by what had occurred, apologised to the journalist. ‘I used to be very sorry that he had been made to really feel that manner,’ an FA spokesperson stated on Friday. ‘I stated I used to be sorry that it had occurred on our premises.’ For now, it rests there.
A witness to the incident at St George’s Park was puzzled by among the physique language across the incident. They thought it unusual Mark Bellingham gave the impression to be handled like a dignitary after the match.
To some, it appears unusual that the FA chooses to indulge Mark Bellingham’s antics, significantly when his perspective in the direction of many good and very ready individuals in their very own organisation is usually stated to be dripping with disdain. They don’t deserve that. However the reality is that the sport’s governing physique is in an invidious place.
As Jude’s father and the person who guides his profession, Mr Bellingham wields appreciable energy throughout the England setup. I’ve recognized lots of gamers’ fathers through the years, a lot of them forthright people fiercely protecting of their sons, simply as Mark Bellingham is.
Neville Neville, particularly, was a principled man who was not afraid to talk up when he thought it was in one of the best pursuits of his boys, Gary and Phil, however he had grace and allure and charisma and he didn’t search or train the facility that Mark Bellingham seems to carry.
It’s stated that Kylian Mbappe’s mom and agent, Fayza Lamari, is a strong affect within the France setup however in England phrases, Mark Bellingham is the daddy of all of them.
Take into account this, for instance: Jude Bellingham made his senior England debut in November 2020 and has gained 44 caps within the final 5 years and but he has by no means as soon as spoken to the English media within the casual briefings routinely organised by the FA within the build-up to a world. Each different participant steps up. Jude fulfils his contractual obligations. Nothing extra.
Some might imagine that completely unimportant. There are even some sports activities journalists who assume press conferences tiresome and irrelevant, though they’re typically the identical journalists who use the data gleaned from these press conferences in their very own items.
It is understood that there’s a feeling of a divide within the England camp over the particular therapy that Jude Bellingham is afforded
Each England participant conducts media duties when requested – however not Jude Bellingham
The purpose is that each different England footballer of the final 30 years has fulfilled his media duties throughout the England setup when requested, not less than among the time.
In case you assume Bellingham is widespread now, you must have seen the mania that surrounded David Beckham initially of his profession. He appeared at these media briefings. The identical utilized to Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.
Extra pertinently, each different present England footballer fulfils media duties earlier than video games. Some consider Mark Bellingham’s hostility in the direction of the media and Jude’s reluctance to talk to the England media exterior his contractual obligations has turn into a dangerous level of division throughout the squad. Different England gamers have puzzled why Jude Bellingham must be a particular case.
Many ex-players and observers have began to note that Bellingham typically appears a person aside at England get-togethers. The FA are desperate to get Jude to fall into line with commonplace media duties however they’re too afraid to tackle him and his father.
Why, precisely, they’re afraid is unclear however many consider it’s as a result of they’re fearful that forcing the difficulty would immediate Mark Bellingham to withdraw Jude from England industrial appearances and that they aren’t prepared to countenance the monetary hit they might take if that occurred.
Jude Bellingham, at 22, is usually thought to be the workforce’s main participant. He’s additionally thought to be its most bankable participant and its biggest industrial asset. If he stays match after his return from shoulder surgical procedure, he must be an England common for the following 10 years not less than. He might break each look file there may be. He and his father are too worthwhile to upset.
Off the sphere, Mark Bellingham and his spouse, Denise, have carried out an exquisite job of citing their boys. Their sons are articulate, charming and humble. They deal with individuals, no matter their rank or standing, with respect.
However there are additionally issues that Jude has began to see enemies the place there are none. Final November, he stated he felt he had been made a scapegoat for England’s failure to win Euro 2024, a remark that was met with widespread puzzlement.
When Thomas Tuchel was appointed England supervisor in October final yr, there was a hope throughout the FA that his famously brusque strategy to participant egos and entourages would start to convey the way in which Jude was handled into line with the remainder of the squad.
Within the early levels of an interview with talkSPORT in June, Tuchel started to supply some gentle criticism of Jude Bellingham that many interpreted as the start of the top of the interval when the participant was handled as a person with particular privileges.
There are additionally issues that Jude has began to see enemies the place there are none
It had been hoped that new England supervisor Thomas Tuchel would curb Bellingham’s worst behaviour – however then he slipped up in certainly one of his early press conferences
‘The sting that he brings must be channelled in the direction of the opponent,’ Tuchel stated, ‘in the direction of our objective and to not intimidate teammates or to be over-aggressive in the direction of teammates or referees, however in the direction of opponents. And all the time in the direction of the answer, that means in the direction of profitable. And we’re on that, sure.’
However then, as Tuchel chatted to presenters Adrian Durham and Stuart Pearce, he malfunctioned. ‘If Bellingham smiles, he wins everybody,’ Tuchel stated. ‘However generally you see the craze, the starvation and the hearth and it comes out in a manner that may be a bit repulsive, for instance, for my mom when she sits in entrance of the TV.’
Repulsive? It was an terrible phrase to make use of and everybody knew it immediately. Tuchel’s use of English is usually wonderful however this was a deeply unlucky error made in his second language.
Mark Bellingham is the kind of man who will get offended whenever you inform him his elder son is a deeply spectacular younger man. Heaven solely is aware of how he reacts when the England boss calls Jude’s behaviour ‘repulsive’. A picture of Krakatoa blowing aside may be an honest information.
Tuchel’s mistake and the ensuing furore is believed to have ended any likelihood of Mark Bellingham and Jude acceding to the FA’s needs about non-contractual media appearances for the foreseeable future.
Tuchel made a public apology for his remark final week because the England squad met up forward of the World Cup qualifiers towards Andorra, on Saturday, and Serbia, in Belgrade on Tuesday, however there may be nonetheless harm to be repaired.
Greater than he ever was, Mark Bellingham continues to be the daddy.
