| -geboren am Friday, 13th July 1979, in Cardiff, Wales -Spitznahme: Bulldog -Signed on 31-01-2011 -Rückennummern: 17 & 39 -Göße: 5 ft 8 in (1.73m) -Gewicht: 12.8st (76 kg) -LEAGUE DEBUT, Saturday, 19th August 2006 in a 1-1 draw at Sheffield United (Aged: 27) -Club's: Norwich, Coventry, Newcastle, Celtic (loan), Blackburn, Liverpool, West Ham, Manchester City, Cardiff City (loan), Liverpool, Cardiff City
- Win ratio: 50.63% W: 40 D: 15 L: 24 Debüt: 25.03.1998 vs. Jamaica
Titel:
- PFA Young Player of the Year: 2001-02 - 2003 Norwich City "Hall of Fame" - 2004/05 SFA Cup (Celtic) - 2006/07 Community Shield (Liverpool FC) - League-Cup, 2011-12 (Liverpool FC) |
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Bellamy started his career at Norwich making his first team debut in the 1996-97 season. He alerted bigger clubs to his ability by scoring 13 goals in 38 games in his first full season and making his Wales debut. He scored 17 goals in 38 games the following season and after an injury hit 1999-2000 season he was sold for a club record fee of 6.5 million pounds to Coventry. Bellamy and Coventry struggled in the Premier League but Newcastle were fully aware of his capabilities. Bellamy spent next four years at Newcastle. He was voted PFA Young Player of the Year in his debut 2001-2002 season.
Bellamy has a volatile temper and at times it has got him in trouble on and off the pitch. After Bobby Robson left Newcastle in 2004 and Graeme Souness took over, Bellamy's love affair with Newcastle met its end. Bellamy and Souness had a very public falling-out and Bellamy was sent on loan to Celtic at the end of January 2005. He scored 9 goals in 15 matches in Scotland and Celtic wanted to sign him but Bellamy wasn't interested. Bellamy who had always been popular with Newcastle supporters, seemed to have trouble getting along with people at his club as former assistant manager of Newcastle and Liverpool player Terry McDermott described it in no uncertain terms: "I've never come across so much hatred and unrest over one person."
The fiery Welshman joined another fiery Welshman at Blackburn prior to the 2005-2006 season. Bellamy flourished under Mark Hughes' guidance and scored 17 goals in 32 games and was considered by many the buy of the season. Craig had a £6million get-out clause in his contract at Blackburn of which Liverpool took full advantage and this lifelong Liverpool fan joined his idols. Bellamy was very inconsistent in which proved to be his only season at Liverpool. He showed his talents on occasions but was too often anonymous on the field. Typically for his career his "highlight" at Liverpool was his Tiger Woods imitation on Liverpool's club trip to Portugal when John Arne Riise faced his wrath.
Bellamy played with the Hammers for one and a half season where injuries curtailed his progress, but despite only managing 9 goals in 26 games for 18 months he was sold for a whopping 14 million pounds to Manchester City in January 2009. Bellamy scored 4 goals in 12 matches in his debut season at Eastlands. Apart from Norwich City (with whom he spent the first four years of his career) and Newcastle United, Bellamy has rarely stayed long at any of his so far eight British clubs. However, he seemed be fairly happily settled at Manchester City, missing only six of the 38 Premier League matches in 2009-2010. He endeared himself to the City fans by scoring twice in a League match at Old Trafford, the second making the score 3-3 with time running out; however, there was still enough time for Michael Owen to grab a United winner in the seventh minute of added-time. His stats in his only full season at City read 10 goals from 32 Premier League matches (1 every 238 mins) with a 58% shot accuracy and a 23% conversion rate as well as 8 assists.
Bellamy was on the move again, but this time only on a season-long deal for the 2010-11 season, to his hometown club, Cardiff City, and was immediately declared club captain by manager David Jones. Bellamy scored 11 goals from 36 matches (1 goal every 273 mins), he had a 59% shot accuracy and 16% conversion rate. Not a world-beater by any means but 13 assists is an impressive stat. Cardiff's quest to become a Premier League club again ended in disappointment after Reading defeated them in the end-of-season play-off semi-final.
On the last day of the 2011 summer transfer-window 32-year-old Bellamy made a surprise return to Liverpool five years after he first arrived at Anfield. Bellamy had been granted a free transfer by Manchester City after the club agreed to settle the final year of the player’s £90,000-a-week contract, though the compensation is not thought to have totalled the full £4.6 million.
Damien Comolli was pleased with adding the Welshman to Kenny Dalglish's squad: "Craig is someone we targeted a long time ago as you can imagine. He's not a discovery for anybody, we know the quality of the player. It was a question of timing and once a fee was agreed with Bolton we spoke to Craig straightaway because we knew he had an agreement with Manchester City that he could leave the club. Both for Kenny and I it was a no-brainer and Kenny had a long conversation with Craig on Wednesday morning and we organised for him to come here. I think everyone knows how good a player he is. He has pace, he's a good finisher, he works hard and the timing of his runs is second to none. His work-rate is really good and what we really liked is the fact he is so versatile. He can play wide, he can play up front, he can play off the target man, so he is an ideal complement to the squad we have built during the summer."
Bellamy has been allocated the No. 39 shirt for the first-team squad.
Club performance England
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League
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FA Cup
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League Cup
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Continental
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Total
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Scotland
England
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League
League
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Scottish Cup
FA Cup
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League Cup
League Cup
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Europe
Europe
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Total
Total
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Nationalmannschaft:
1997–1998
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Wales U-21
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Spiele (Tore)
8 (1)
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1998–
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Wales
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68 (19)
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Goal
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Date
|
Venue
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Opponent
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Score
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Result
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Competition
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
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10 October 1998 5 September 2001 13 February 2002 16 October 2002 29 March 2003 18 August 2004 9 February 2005 11 October 2006 14 November 2006 26 May 2007 12 September 2007 19 November 2008 10 October 2009 11 August 2010 12 November 2011 |
Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales Skonto Stadium, Riga, Latvia Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales Racecourse Ground, Wrexham, Wales Racecourse Ground, Wrexham, Wales Štadión Antona Malatinského, Trnava, Slovakia Brøndby Stadium, Brøndby, Denmark Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli, Wales Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff, Wales |
Malta
Denmark
Norway
Argentina
Italy
Azerbaijan
Latvia
Hungary
Hungary
Cyprus
Liechtenstein
New Zealand
New Zealand
Slovakia
Slovakia
Denmark
Finland
Luxembourg
Norway
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1–0
2-1
2-1
1-0
2-1
1-0
2-0
1-0
2-0
3-0
3-0
1-1
2-2
2-1
3-1
1-0
1-1
5-1
2-0
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3–0
2-1
2-3
1-1
2-1
4-0
2-0
/
2-0
3-1
4-0
/
2-2
5-2
1-0
1-2
5-1
4-1
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Friendly
UEFA Euro 2000 Qual.
World Cup Qual. 2002
Friendly
UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
Friendly
Friendly
UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
Friendly
Friendly
UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
Friendly
World Cup Qual. 2010
Friendly
Friendly
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Der schnelle Offensiv-Allrounder begann seine Karriere 1996 bei Norwich City, wo er bis 2000 blieb. In der Saison 2000/2001 spielte er bei Coventry City, von 2001 bis 2004 bei Newcastle United. Nach einer öffentlich ausgetragenen Auseinandersetzung mit Manager Graeme Souness wurde er im Januar 2005 für die zweite Hälfte der Saison nach Schottland zu Celtic Glasgow verliehen.
In der Saison 2005/2006 spielte Bellamy bei den Blackburn Rovers. Bellamy hatte in seinem Vertrag eine Ausstiegsklausel, die es ihm erlaubte, bei dem Angebot eines Champions League-Teilnehmers für 9 Mio. zu wechseln. Diese Klausel nahm er am 22. Juni 2006 wahr und wechselte zum englischen Rekordmeister Liverpool FC. Im Juli 2007 wurde Bellamy für 11.8 Mio. zu West Ham United transferiert. Dort blieb er 1 1/2 Jahre, bis er am 19. Januar 2009 für 15.5 Mio. zu Manchester City wechselte. Im August 2010 wurde bekannt, dass Bellamy an den walisischen Club Cardiff City in die Football League Championship verliehen werde.
Am 31. August 2011 gab der Liverpool FC die Verpflichtung von Bellamy bekannt. Bellamy unterzeichnete einen Zweijahresvertrag und erhielt die Trikotnummer 39.
Bellamy spielte bisher 67 Mal im walisischen Fußballnationalteam und erzielte dort 19 Tore.
Undiszipliniertheiten
Aufsehen erregte er im Vorfeld des Champions-League Spiels gegen den FC Barcelona im Achtelfinale 2007, als er im Trainingslager in Portugal seinen Mannschaftskollegen John Arne Riise angeblich mit einem Golfschläger attackierte. Kurioserweise waren es jene beiden, die mit ihren Treffern den 2:1-Sieg über den FC Barcelona ermöglichten. Als Anspielung auf den Vorfall ahmte Bellamy nach seinem 1:1-Ausgleichstreffer einen Golfschwung nach einem Abschlag nach.Auch in seiner Zeit bei Newcastle United machte er mit undisziplinierten Verhalten auf sich aufmerksam. Coach John Carver warf er einst einen Stuhl an den Kopf, Teammanager Graeme Souness suspendierte ihn nach seiner Weigerung, im rechten Mittelfeld zu spielen und Stürmerstar Alan Shearer drohte nach Bellamys Wechsel zu Blackburn: „Ich schlag’ ihm den Kopf ab, wenn er je nach Newcastle zurückkehrt.”
Beim Stadtderby Manchester City gegen Manchester United im September 2009 sorgte Bellamy für Aufsehen, als er einem in der Schlussphase der Partie auf das Spielfeld gelaufenen Manchester United-Anhänger einen Faustschlag ins Gesicht verpasste. Sowohl gegen den Fan als auch gegen Bellamy wurden daraufhin von der Polizei Ermittlungen eingeleitet.
Hometown hero Craig Bellamy enters Cardiff City folklore
By Simon Roberts BBC Sport Wales
Craig Bellamy has represented nine clubs in more than 16 years as a professional footballer, including giants of the game like Celtic and Liverpool. Along the way, he has won a League Cup, a Scottish Cup and a Community Shield, collected 74 Wales caps and played for Team GB at the Olympics - but on Tuesday night his name went down in Cardiff City folklore.
When Bellamy finally returned permanently to his hometown club last summer, he made no secret of his ambition to take Cardiff into the Premier League and said it would be his greatest achievement if he managed it.
After Tuesday's goalless draw with Charlton Athletic, he has - and it is.
A point at home to the Addicks means the Bluebirds, having led the Championship for the last 21 weeks, have secured promotion to the promised land with three games of the regular season remaining - and their prodigal son has been at the heart of it.
In a season when City's very identity has been a hot topic - a new red kit and speculation over a name-change to the Cardiff Dragons - the 33-year-old striker has been the figure supporters have rallied around. He may only have scored four goals in the campaign but as the sole Cardiff-born player in the team, his very presence has been totemic.
There was genuine disbelief when Bellamy first arrived on loan from Manchester City in 2010, a signing that gave Cardiff's Premier League ambitions much-needed substance, stardust and steel.
He was not the club's first big-name signing in recent times - Robbie Fowler and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink joined in the twilight of their careers - but he has certainly been the most influential.
Cardiff failed to realise Bellamy's dream during that loan spell but the move home had left a mark on him and captured his imagination.
There is little doubt he could have stayed in the Premier League but the dream of taking Cardiff into English football's top flight for the first time since 1962 had become almost a personal crusade.
He left Manchester City to rejoin Liverpool for a second spell, but after a season, and despite new manager Brendan Rodgers's best efforts to keep him at Anfield, Bellamy signed a two-year deal with Cardiff in August 2012.
There was unfinished business at the Cardiff City Stadium.
For the boy from Trowbridge, who left Cardiff as a teenager to learn his trade with first Bristol Rovers and then Norwich City, the homeward journey has not always been a smooth one.
There have been numerous bust-ups and controversies along the way. Among some of the headlines, Bellamy famously confronted Liverpool team-mate John Arne Riise with a golf club and there were also allegations he threw a chair at Newcastle United coach John Carver.
But Bellamy, who has always been a complicated character, has also thrown himself into his charity work with the Craig Bellamy Foundation, which educates disadvantaged youngsters through a football academy in Sierra Leone.
And his sessions with psychiatrist Dr Steve Peters have given Bellamy a new-found calm and maturity, as he has learned to control his "inner chimp".
He may have divided opinion throughout his colourful and controversial career but his commitment to the cause and what he means to the Cardiff faithful - as seen by the number of Bellamy 39 shirts to be seen around the Welsh capital - has never been in doubt.
He has been the driving force for Malky Mackay's side throughout this campaign, transmitting his legendary work ethic and self-belief to a side that had failed in the Championship play-offs for the past three seasons.
He has, quite simply, been a man on a mission and has not allowed those around him to buckle under the pressure.
His own physical powers may be on the wane, but Bellamy has barked orders in his own inimitable style and dragged the likes of goalkeeper David Marshall, midfielders Bo-Kyung Kim, Peter Whittingham, Jordon Mutch and Craig Noone, and striker Joe Mason along with him and into the Premier League.
He has harangued officials and put his injury-ravaged body - he has had seven knee operations during his career - on the line for his hometown club and the Bluebirds faithful have loved him for it.
Bellamy has delivered on his promise but, as a Premier League veteran, he knows better than anybody else that the real work begins now.
01.05.2013 by Thomas Kunze
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