Jude Bellingham continued his homecoming tour on Saturday by visiting Edgbaston, just a day after receiving a hero’s welcome at his former football club Birmingham City.
The Real Madrid midfielder, who grew up in nearby Stourbridge, purchased a 1.2 per cent stake in The Hundred franchise Birmingham Phoenix earlier this year and has previously spoken about his love for cricket, saying he and his brother Jobe used to ‘scrap’ when playing it growing up and that it’s now his ‘favourite thing to watch outside football’.
On Saturday at the famous cricket ground, Bellingham was there to enjoy plenty of action, particularly in the first women’s game. He watched on as Phoenix won their opening match of the women’s competition in dramatic fashion, defeating Welsh Fire with just one ball remaining.
The England star was also on hand to present captain Donovan Ferreira with the coin for the toss in the subsequent men’s match, although the 23-year-old wasn’t able to inspire victory as the hosts slumped to defeat by Welsh Fire. England’s newly confirmed Test captain Joe Root guided the visitors to victory with four balls remaining.
Hundreds of millions of pounds in private investment cash has been injected in The Hundred with all eight teams having been either partially or fully taken over by new owners as part of significant financial investment into the competition since last year. Upon announcing his own involvement with the franchise, Bellingham said: ‘I feel like I owe the city something. And this feels like a good way.’
The Real Madrid midfielder, who grew up in nearby Stourbridge, purchased a 1.2 per cent stake in The Hundred franchise Birmingham Phoenix earlier this year
Bellingham was in attendance as Phoenix won their first match in the women’s competition in dramatic fashion, defeating Welsh Fire with just one ball remaining
He as previously spoken about how he and his brother Jobe used to ‘scrap’ when playing it growing up and that it’s now his ‘favourite thing to watch outside football’
Upon announcing his own involvement with the franchise, Bellingham said: ‘I feel like I owe the city something. And this feels like a good way’
The previous evening, Bellingham was welcomed back to his former club Birmingham City like a hero as he watched them triumph on penalties against Barcelona.
Barcelona had travelled 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 the Spanish capital to begin the new season under Jose Mourinho.
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.
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
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 against 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 before 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.
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 permanently keeping his No 22 jersey out of action.
Despite arriving at St Andrew’s in a white T-shirt, Bellingham finished the match wearing his retired No 22 Birmingham jersey, which appeared to bring the hosts luck as they pulled off a comeback to force the decisive penalty shootout.
