MY HEROES: Johnny - Mike - Mell
Craig Bellamy
Footballer
NAME:
Craig "Bellers" Bellamy
DOB: 13th July 1979
Place of Birth: Cardiff, Wales
Marital Status: As far as I know, he's married to Claire, and he has two children, one of which is called Cameron. Mell's tattoo on his arm says 'Cameron' which is sweet, but a bit mean on the other kid.. unless he has a less visible tattoo with Kid#2 on it.
Mellany, (I once misheard "Bellamy" as "Mellany" and you know me - it stuck) is a brilliant footballer. He's very fast and has a lot of attitude, and other teams tend to dislike playing against him because of these things. He never lets the defence rest (ooo, courtroom images! lol) and swears a hell of a lot if anyone even slightly bugs him. It's really, really funny (unless you're a referee, and then I think it's dissent).
He's my hero because despite everything, he's a really sweet guy. He's a family man (dammit), he supports charities, he's nice to his fans, and he's an awesome footballer. On the other hand, he's a real Welsh Dragon, with a very fiery temper that he's just about learning to keep under control (to some extent). He's also very noisy and totally full of himself (in the best possible way) whilst being pretty paranoid at the same time. Bobby once described him as an "arrogant cuss", lol awwww!! All of these personality traits make him the footballer that he is, and without it he'd not have that edge.
Basically, he's perfect yet is entirely NOT perfect (*cough* just ask the police.. *cough*) And I'll support him through anything and everything (I feel like I already have... life is such a roller coaster for him!).
Here are some examples of Mell Moments for you:
1.
vs Inter Milan. Mell punched a guy because he'd been pulling him and
generally just winding him up. So
he got a red card and a(nother) 3 match ban in the Champions League.
He was *distraught*. He was
completely furious with himself and cried with frustration and
self-disappointment as he left the pitch. During
the TV coverage they showed him standing at the side looking so alone, crying,
and he looked SO beautiful I seriously wanted to jump through the TV and hug him
and cheer him up. Poor boy :-(
2. Abusive/insulting words to the ref (like he's the only one that does that!! Pff!). He actually had to go to some sort of FA court hearing thing (in York!) for that, but it ended up ok. Some of the charges were dropped and he got a match ban that didn't matter much, and possibly a fine too. His abusive/insulting words were bang on the mark though. D'Urso was a ****ing ****** that match.
3. The middle-of-the-night-in-wales-outside-a-nightclub-yelling-at-asian-doorman thing. Thankfully, this ended up being a lot less than it was to start off with - where it was alleged that he called the doorman dude a "paki c*nt". The racist charges were dropped though (thank god!) although there was still some sort of complaint about it all, just coz he's such a mouthy little guy. However, there was also something said about the doorman throwing him down a flight of stairs first?? I don't really know... it's all a bit confusing. Anyways, it's passed now... and my boy's not racist... so it's all good.
4. A tendancy to get booked a lot (which he seems to have overcome a bit!) and the triggering of a lot of offside flags. But it's only coz he's so committed to the game, and he's so quick, and coz referees and linesmen are blind idiots anyhoo (which Mell isn't afraid to tell them… just with more ****'s in there)
5. Indie, "The Kidney Kid". Indie had to have 3 kidney transplants, and Mell was his hero. So one day Mell and some of the other NUFC guys went down to visit him, and Mell really admired the little guy's courage. The next game Melly played he scored 2 goals and dedicated them both to Indie, who he also gave tickets to matches. How much of a nice guy is he???!! :-) Awww! Unfortunately the transplants failed and Indie died, but at least Mell added a bright spark to his short life. I'm very proud of him.
6. Mell supports the Tiny Lives Charity – having donated signed footy boots to their auction and then often popping down to the Special Care Baby Unit to see how it's all going. Apparently he's got quite a thing for the hospital since joining at Newcastle, and has been to the wards quite a few times. Good ole Mell!!
7. A little kid (Liam) went to the training ground, fishing for autographs from the team. Not only did Mell sign something for him, but he then went off to his car and found a pair of his footy boots to give to Liam!! How adorable is *that*??
8. Injuries. A lot of injuries. Recurring injuries.
See, a couple of years ago one of his knees was in terrible shape and had to have something done to it. It was then fine. Then two seasons ago his other knee went. This almost ended his career, but he got it properly treated (Thank You Dr Richard Steadman!!!!) and he eventually came back after missing from February until the end of the season.
After that, his knee occasionally played up, but it just about held out. Just. Although The Sun had reports of him not being able to walk after games he was in such pain. :-( But he came back from injury to play against Feyenoord on 13th November 2002, in one of Newcastle's most important matches EVER – and he broke history by being FANTASTIC and scored two very very VERY important goals (including the winner in the 89th minute!!)
And then in a game for Wales in August 2003, his knee went again. The first one. And around about 20th August – Mell went to Bobby's office and was distraught to announce that he was gonna have to quit coz the pain was too much. *O*M*G*!! Luckily, good old Sir Bob told him to snap out of it, and built up his self confidence, so he changed his mind. He then came back for a match or two, but the knees were getting worse and the pain wouldn't go away, so he didn't play for ages. He had more operations, he had more time to recuperate, and he FINALLY lost the pain. So he trained hard... he got fit.... he came back... and he scored SIX GOALS IN HIS FIRST SIX GAMES!!!!!! He then pulled a hamstring (horrible moment to watch!)... but that got better just at the end of last season. This season he's been on top-notch form so far, scoring goals all the time... let's hope he can keep this up!!
On a more personal note, at my first match I was on the
front row by the corner and when he came near I yelled encouragement really
loudly when everyone else was quiet so he probably heard me. Also when he was getting loads of bad press (yeah, I forgot
to mention this one, when he was cautioned for assault on a student…) I wrote
to him sending him my support, and he sent me an autographed photo :-)
See, great guy.
BTW, Mell likes golf ("though there's too much walking" - I totally agree with him about that). He enjoys watching footy on TV (don't we all?), and his fave films are Gladiator and Braveheart (kinda blood-thirsty... but still!). :-) I tell you, knowing that will pay off one day...
Nice Mell quotes:
"I know I'll be back and I'll be better than ever"
"I am no angel, but I am trying to change"
awwww,
you just gotta love him! (No matter what he does to his hair!)
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