Jude Bellingham and brother Jobe unexpectedly become England internationals
While only 0.5 % of all youth players become professional footballers, the sons of Mark Bellingham, Jude (23) and Jobe (21), have both received a call‑up from English national team coach Thomas Tuchel to play for England. This marks a rare breakthrough for the family, given the low chance of professional success.
Origin and family
Mark Bellingham studied at the University of Wolverhampton and, at the age of 22, obtained a position as a sergeant with the West Midlands Police Department. Around that time he met Denise, who was eight years older and worked as an HR officer. On 29 June 2003 Mark became the father of Jude Victor William Bellingham, born in a hospital in Stourbridge. Two years later, on 23 September 2005, he welcomed a second son, Jobe Samuel Patrick Bellingham.
Early football years
Mark at the time played for regional amateur clubs Stourbridge, Leamington, Causeway United and Wolverhampton Casuals, which sit at the seventh and eighth levels of the English football pyramid. He later described that environment as “football played on muddy pitches in front of 200 people on a Saturday afternoon”. Jude played one season for Stourbridge Juniors when he was six years old. In 2010 Mark placed his oldest son in the youth academy of Birmingham City, a Premier League club.
In 2012 Jobe also wore the shirt of The Blues. The brothers never played together because Jude quickly moved up two age groups.
As a police sergeant, Mark earned at the time £2,300 per month, roughly €2,700. After his shift he drove the two sons to training in Birmingham every evening.
Jude said in an interview that he often didn’t go to bed until 11 p.m. and had to get up early in the morning for school. Mark and Denise Bellingham invested a lot of time, money and energy in their children’s football careers. Ashlyn Castro is the girlfriend of Jude.
Mark Bellingham once said: “Football doesn’t care where you come from”. He was a good striker at modest level, with more than 700 goals in almost 25 years of amateur football. He hung up his boots at the age of 44.
Mark was known as a hot‑head, hard and demanding on himself and teammates. On social media a story circulates about an alleged fight with a teammate at Sutton Coldfield Town when he was 34. Every Saturday afternoon the little Jude drove to his father’s training session. Jude remembers how intense his father was.
When Jude was nine years old, Mark thought he was playing too much for fun and challenged him further. Jude scored fifteen goals in one half with the U10 of Birmingham City. Mark asked the coach to move Jude up to a higher age group, and when he also broke everything at the U11 level, Mark went back to the coach. Jude Bellingham made his first‑team debut for Birmingham in 2019.
International call‑ups and future
Dad Hazard may raise his finger and the late dad Lukaku could be just as proud. Mark Bellingham believes that with his two football‑playing sons he has gold in his hands.