Jude Bellingham was welcomed back to Birmingham City like a hero on Friday night as he watched his boyhood club triumph on penalties against Barcelona.
Barcelona travelled over to St Andrew’s for a pre-season friendly against the Championship club, giving Blues fans plenty to cheer about as they were given a rare opportunity to see the LaLiga champions in action.
The occasion was made even more special for those inside St Andrew’s when England superstar Bellingham, who began his glittering career at Birmingham before leaving to join Borussia Dortmund in 2020 and later Real Madrid in 2023, was unveiled at the start of the game.
Before kick-off, Birmingham City’s official social media account showed Bellingham taking his seat and waving to fans in a touching video captioned: ‘Jude. He’s home.’
As he raised his arms aloft to greet the adoring fans, Blues supporters loudly bellowed ‘Jude’ to honour their former starlet and fervently chanted ‘he’s one of our own’ in a special moment for the England midfielder at St Andrew’s.
Bellingham is still enjoying some richly-deserved time off after playing an integral role for England at the World Cup this summer and thus has not yet returned to Real Madrid to begin the new season under Jose Mourinho.
Jude Bellingham was given a warm reception as he watched Birmingham defeat Barcelona
Bellingham posed for selfies with Birmingham fans who once cheered him on as a teenager
The £113million midfielder cheered jubilantly as he watched his boyhood club triumph over Real Madrid’s bitter rivals, winning on penalties after drawing 2-2 in normal time.
August Priske Flyger and John Solis were both on the scoresheet for the Blues, while Hamza Abdelkarim netted a brace for the Catalans.
Goalkeeper James Beadle was the hero in the shootout as he saved spot-kicks from Roony Bardghji and Brian Farinas, while Jordi Pesquer crashed his effort into the crossbar to hand Birmingham a 3-2 win on penalties.
Few clubs have a fonder view of an academy player than Birmingham City have of Bellingham, who at 23 has already become one of the best midfielders in world football.
Bellingham burst through the ranks at Birmingham as a youngster, starring for the U18s as a 14 year old and later making his debut for the U23s at the age of just 15.
The midfielder was then promoted to the Blues’ senior squad for the 2019-20 season, becoming the youngest first-team player in the club’s history at 16 years and 36 days old.
Bellingham could hardly believe what he was watching as Birmingham triumphed on penalties
The England international was seen wearing his No22 Birmingham jersey – which was officially retired by the club when he left them to join Borussia Dortmund back in 2020
After making 41 appearances that campaign, Bellingham joined Borussia Dortmund for a £25m fee and became the youngest player ever to have his shirt retired by a professional club, with Birmingham officially retiring his No22 jersey.
Despite arriving at St Andrew’s in a white t-shirt, Bellingham finished the match wearing his retired No22 Birmingham jersey, which appeared to give the hosts luck as they pulled off a comeback to force the decisive penalty shootout.
