CLUB v COUNTRY CONFLICT
Wednesday 1st April 2020
Bellamy's Wales passion has always burned deep and, desperate to help his country reach Euro 2004, he missed key Newcastle United matches to rest two troublesome knees and ensure he could play in big qualifiers against Italy and Finland. But it caused friction up on Tyneside, with Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd particularly vocal.
"I was so close to playing in the European Championships and I didn’t know if I’d get as good a chance to get Wales to a major tournament again.
It meant I would be putting Newcastle second, which ate away at me.
The crunch game against Italy was set for the San Siro in Milan. I knew that if I had any chance of being even close to my best for the Italy game, I couldn’t play again in the build-up to it."
Without Bellamy Newcastle lost to Partizan Belgrade, Manchester United and Birmingham, were out of the Champions League and bottom of the Premier League.
Freddy Shepherd, understandably, was not particularly happy. He moaned at me about my involvement with Wales. He said it was obvious that I needed surgery and that I could not join up with the national team again until I had played for Newcastle.
But I was solely focused on my country. I knew what I was doing was essentially unfair to Newcastle, but I was desperate to play in the Euros.
So I tried to appease Newcastle by starting to train again. But the club insisted I couldn’t play for Wales unless I played for Newcastle first and I knew that if I played in the game against Birmingham, I would be in too much pain to play against Italy.
Craig Bellamy was desperate to help Wales reach the Euros. This is his famous winner over Italy in Cardiff ©Huw Evans Agency Ltd. (Image: Huw Evans Agency Ltd)
My knees had got so bad, I needed more than a week’s recovery time after every match.
Newcastle banned me from playing and got a solicitor to write to the Welsh FA. They warned Wales that if I joined up with them, they would sue the Welsh FA.
I joined up anyway and Wales sent me to see an independent surgeon. The surgeon barely looked at me and gave me the okay.
Wales said I was fine. Freddy Shepherd was furious. He said I’d never play for Newcastle again. It was a fraught situation."
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