Craig Bellamy

Bristol Rovers and Norwich City

Bellamy attended youth sessions organised by Cardiff City in Ely for a year after being encouraged by his father. The club, however, took little interest in him as a youngster and, at nine-years-old, he joined Bristol Rovers after being spotted by former professional Stan Montgomery, who was working for Rovers. Although an hour's drive from his family home, Bellamy was swayed by the better coaching and his own playing kit. He spent two years with Bristol Rovers before being spotted by a scout working for Norwich City. The club invited Bellamy to a trial match in Somerset where he impressed and was asked to travel with the side to compete in the Dana Cup, an international youth football tournament held in Hjørring, Denmark. His performances led to a permanent place with the Canary Rangers, Norwich's youth development side. Prior to signing with the club, several other teams took an interest in Bellamy; Leeds United offered his parents £10,000 if he signed for them. Norwich responded by guaranteeing him a two-year YTS contract when he was old enough to sign. Bellamy travelled to Norwich by train on Saturday afternoons, then played a youth match on Sunday morning before returning to Cardiff. At the age of 15, Bellamy moved away from Cardiff to start his youth apprenticeship with Norwich, being placed with a local family along with another apprentice. His first year away from home proved troublesome and he describes it as "the hardest year…

Wales

Youth and senior arrival

Bellamy first represented Wales at schoolboy level in 1994 but came under pressure in an under-performing side. The manager fielded telephone calls from the parents of other players who said Bellamy was too small to play in the side. He progressed through the under-17 and under-18 levels before manager Tom Walley called him up to the under-21 side for the first time at the age of 16. He made his debut as a substitute in a match against San Marino, becoming the youngest player to represent the side. Bellamy, however, began to regard the under-21 side as setting him back in his career as he was often relegated to the bench at Norwich after spending up to ten days at a time away on international duty. This led to him asking officials at Norwich to claim he was injured, sparing him from being named in the side. Bellamy was called into the senior Wales squad in 1998 by manager Bobby Gould, who was renowned for his unusual methods. During Bellamy's first training session with the first team, Gould was involved in a wrestling match with John Hartson that left Gould with a bloodied nose. Bellamy made his international debut on 25 March 1998 at the age of 18 as a substitute in place of Gareth Taylor in a friendly game against Jamaica at Ninian Park. At the end of the 1997–98 season, Bellamy was included in a squad for friendlies against Malta and Tunisia, scoring his first international goal during a 3–0 victory against the former on…

Bellamy has been described as having a dynamic style of play with quick, bursting technique and calmness under pressure. He began his career as a central midfielder, but was moved further forward during his time with Norwich and featured in several attacking roles, playing as both a winger and a centre-forward for the remainder of his career. He preferred playing a counter-attacking style of football as his pace often allowed him to exploit space behind the defenders as the opposition team pressed forward. As Premier League managers shifted toward favouring strikers with a more physical presence, Bellamy adapted to a wider role, studying leading wingers such as Franck Ribéry to improve his game. His former Wales, Blackburn and Manchester City manager Mark Hughes said he loved having Bellamy on his teams because of "the intensity he brings" and "his desire to affect the game every single time he plays". Hughes acknowledged that Bellamy developed a reputation as being sometimes difficult to work with but stated, "If you understand him and support him, he will play his heart out for you". Louise Taylor of The Guardian highlighted the considerable attacking threat that Bellamy possessed and that his pace was "complemented by high-calibre finishing ability". His best tally in a single season in the Premier League was 17 goals during his spell with Blackburn in 2005–06 although his goalscoring record was questioned by his former Newcastle manager Graeme Souness during his time…

Craig Douglas Bellamy was born on 13 July 1979 at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, the second of three boys born to Douglas and Angela Bellamy. At the time, the family lived on Swinton Street in the Splott district of the city, a traditionally working-class environment. Bellamy's mother worked as a cleaner and his father worked at the nearby Allied Steel and Wire site that overlooked the family home, where he remained until the plant's closure in 2002. With both his parents working full-time, Bellamy spent most of his school holidays at his paternal grandmother's home in Adamsdown. He suffers from asthma; as a child he made frequent visits to hospital to manage the condition. At the age of five, Bellamy and his family moved to the eastern suburb of Trowbridge, which is part of a council estate built in the 1960s. Bellamy's father was a keen football fan who supported Cardiff City and Bellamy's first experience of professional football was watching a Football League Fourth Division match between Cardiff and Newport County at Cardiff's home ground Ninian Park during the 1987–88 season, which Cardiff won 4–0. His father played amateur football for local Cardiff-based sides; Bellamy described him as a "sluggish right-back". Bellamy's interest in the sport grew rapidly; he regularly attended Cardiff City matches at Ninian Park and played in a park near his home with his older brother Paul and his friends. Bellamy credits playing against older children as making him…