You can’t do that – Craig Bellamy accepts rooting against England was wrong

Craig Bellamy has addressed allegations of bullying and xenophobic behaviour made against him during his time as an academy coach and said he was wrong to root against England in front of young English footballers.

The new Wales boss stepped down as Cardiff’s under-18s manager in January 2019 as the Sky Bet Championship club launched legal proceedings against him and others.

The following October, Cardiff said their academy players faced an “unacceptable training environment” at the club.

As well as supporting England’s opponents in front of young English players, Bellamy is said to have turned down the television when God Save The Queen was playing before England’s 2018 World Cup semi-final against Croatia and also shown his disdain for Bristol City.

Bellamy, who has denied and disputed the allegations and has not been subject to any disciplinary proceedings, apologised for any offence he caused and subsequently rebuilt his coaching career assisting Vincent Kompany at Anderlecht and Burnley.

The 45-year-old, who has won 78 caps for Wales and played for Liverpool, Manchester City and Newcastle, says he did not realise how his behaviour could affect the young players at Cardiff’s academy.

“I trusted the disciplinary process and respected it,” Bellamy said when asked how he got through that difficult period.

“I also understood that there are a lot of things I didn’t know – like rooting against England in a game in front of people from England. It’s not right. You can’t do that.

“I didn’t know that. I honestly thought it was just nature for me. I didn’t understand how an 18-year-old English kid could have felt.

“So I apologized for that. There are a lot of things like that that I thought might sound good, but actually it might be a deal and I didn’t realize it.

“So I have to take that into account too – and I did.”

Bellamy returned to coaching under-18 and under-21 footballers at Anderlecht, helping current Manchester City and Belgium winger Jeremy Doku, among others, progress in their careers.

He spent more than two years in Belgium before reuniting with Kompany at Burnley, during which time the Clarets won the Championship title with 101 points and then suffered relegation from the Premier League.

Bellamy said: “I went to Anderlecht and had the opportunity to work with the under-18s again.

“But the amount of relationships I still have with a lot of players from those times (in Cardiff) is also hugely important to me.

“The message to every youth coach going into youth coaching is, ‘Please be aware. Please. Really do your homework and the levels you’re going into and what you allow.’

“I wasn’t dealing with 12, 13 or 14-year-olds. These were 17, 18-year-olds. If you’re in school, then obviously you don’t swear.

“I thought, after school, maybe, you know, in that environment, I could turn a blind eye to it. But you can’t do that.”