Jude Bellingham’s rise to prominence is still happening at a startling rate, but his modesty and maturity have also helped him become one of the players who is spoken about the most globally.
Jude Bellingham is shown on the right waving to his brother Jobe and parents Mark and Denise after Real Madrid won the Champions League final.
The 20-year-old Real Madrid and England player is regularly collecting awards, and this summer at the European Championships in Germany, he is predicted to be one of Gareth Southgate’s most crucial players.
Jude Bellingham has been forthright about how much his mother has meant to him. On holiday in July 2021, Jude, left, is shown with his father Mark, mother Denise, and younger brother Jobe Bellingham.
Pictured: Jude Bellingham with his mother during his youth spell at boyhood club Birmingham
Jude Bellingham wraps his Champions League final medal around his mother’s neck while brother Jobe beams
Bellingham, who had the unfailing support of his loving parents, Mark and Denise, when he left his beloved Birmingham for Borussia Dortmund in a £25 million move at the age of 17, will be returning to Germany for the competition.
His incredible move from Birmingham to the Bernabeu in just three years was marked by his acquisition by European heavyweights Real Madrid for £88.5 million last year, after he established his dominance on world football in Germany.
Bellingham helped Real beat Dortmund, his old team, 2-0 at Wembley, England’s home of football, on Saturday night, in a moment of serendipity.
But Bellingham made sure his parents got the glory as the Real Madrid players hurried onto the Wembley pitch to celebrate their 15th Champions League victory, even putting his most coveted medal ever around his mother’s neck.
The England star drew Denise, Mark, and his younger Sunderland player brother Jobe out of the throng. He then fought back tears as he expressed his thanks to his family.
Pictured: Jude’s mother, father Mark and brother Jobe arrived at Wembley five hours early
Bellingham took a picture of Denise and Jose Mourinho in heartwarming scenes
The 20-year-old posed for the cameras with his glistening winner’s medal in his mouth
This is the greatest night of my life, he declared. I was OK up until I saw my parents’ faces.
The number of evenings when they could be home by seven of the clock and drive me to football at eleven or twelve.
And there is my little brother, for whom I am attempting to set an example. Indeed, this is my best night ever.
Five hours before kickoff, the family had arrived at Wembley to take in the atmosphere and perhaps to consider Jude’s incredible accomplishments.
‘This image, for me, let me say, wonderful player, special family,’ former Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho remarked on TNT Sports as video of the family in the stands appeared.
‘To see that family the way they are there is to see how humblely they are supporting their child without seeking for cameras or VIP seats. I think it is very lovely.
‘Sorry about that, my mum’s fancied you for years,’ Jude joked when he asked if his mother could take a photo with Mourinho during the festivities.
Jude’s parents divided their life for their boys as their professions took off, giving up their evenings and weekends to drive him and Jobe to training for years.
The budding star was raised in the West Midlands town of Stourbridge, which lies west of Birmingham. He played for Stourbridge Juniors when he was a little child, a team founded by his father, a successful former non-league striker.
Denise has travelled with Jude as his career has taken him from Birmingham to Germany and on to Spain. Pictured: Jude taking a selfie with his mother, Denise
Jude’s father, Mark Bellingham (centre), was a prolific non-league striker and also a former police sergeant for West Midlands Police
Jude and his mother remained on the Wembley pitch long after the final whistle as they took in the occasion
Jude began his career in the academy of Birmingham City, where he achieved the distinction of youngest first-team player at the age of 16 before moving to Europe a year later.
Denise, 56, had been by her gifted son’s side ever since he moved to Madrid last year and had followed him when he was traded to Dortmund in 2020.
Retired policeman Mark, 48, stayed at home with Jobe, 18.
A mutual choice, it has subsequently caused the married pair to live thousands of miles apart and require hours-long flights to be in the same time zone.
Although many young men would rather become independent of their parents, Jude has been forthright about the “massive” advantages of having his mother by his side.
‘My mum is playing a major part,’ he said, opening up about her involvement at his Real Madrid introduction. To be honest, other than my bosses and coaches, it is most likely the largest responsibility of any.
Jude Bellingham posed with mum Denise after Real Madrid were crowned LaLiga champions in May
Denise and Mark Bellingham were pictured in the stands before the FIFA World Cup group match between England and USA in Qatar
Jude can concentrate only on football because Denise, a human resources professional, handles his money.
In the upmarket La Finca area of west Madrid, where homes fetch upwards of £11 million, the two share an apartment.
Jude even admitted once that his mother makes his bed occasionally, for which his England teammates ‘bashed’ him.
‘I stay fairly humble because I have my mum around, and without her, sometimes I would get too low with the lows or too high with the highs,’ Jude said earlier.
She is a fantastic laugh, so it is also wonderful to have her around. We get on so well and we’re always doing stuff together.’
It’s perhaps Denise’s hands-on role that has allowed Jude to juggle his non-stop football with finding romance.
While Jude’s mother appears to be the number one woman in his life, it’s understood that he has struck up a romance with Dutch model Laura Celia Valk, 25.
Jude says he only has ‘good memories’ about his childhood in Hagley, West Midlands.
And unlike most footballers, who dreamed of becoming a professional from a young age, Jude was not obsessed with the game that his father had fallen in love with.
When taken to his father’s training sessions, he preferred to make a daisy bouquet for his mother or play hide and seek.
However, there was a turning point which Jude has touched on previously.
He recalled: ‘We talk about footballing heroes, and my dad was like my first. Seeing the way he played and the atmosphere, it made me fall in love with football.’
Mark scored more than 700 goals in about 900 appearances, making him something of an English non-league Pelé.
He juggled stints at clubs including Leamington, Stourbridge and Sutton Coldfield Town with his day job with West Midlands Police.
Mark hung up his boots at the age of 41 in 2017 and is now believed to have retired from the West Midlands Police force. He declines to discuss his sons’ exploits.
He is a Southend United supporter and Jude’s first football matches as a boy were with his father to see the Essex team.
Jude told The Guardian in 2020 how his mother took him to watch his father play.
Jude Bellingham’s career has gone from strength to strength in recent years, with his parents working diligently in the background to keep him grounded. Pictured: Jude with his family after signing for Real Madrid
England and Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham’s footballer brother Jobe has shared online a happy birthday message for their mother Denise in December
More than 1,000 miles separate Jude’s club Real Madrid from Jobe’s Sunderland, but their parents are making an effort to keep between both
He said then: ‘It’s where I started to get that love for football – I think you can see in the way I play that I’ve watched the game from a young age.
‘That non-league style of toughness and being gritty when you need to be, I do think that comes from watching my dad play – even though he never tackled!’
Speaking about his father to the FA in an interview, Jude also said: ‘We talk about footballing heroes, and my dad was like my first.
‘When you go and watch him play every week in non-league, you know it’s not the Premier League or anything, but seeing the way that he played and the atmosphere, it made me fall in love with football so he was probably my first hero.
‘After the first few times of going, I’d start to pay a bit more attention to the games and stuff, the atmosphere and he’s scoring goals so you see him celebrating and stuff like that – you want that to be me.
‘Growing up, he’d always give me tips on what I could do and now it gets to a certain age and it sort of flips and that’s brilliant because we have that sort of relationship like father and son and then as I got older, like coach and player.’
Bellingham made a beeline after receiving his medal and placed it around Denise’s neck
Jude returned to Madrid yesterday ahead of a trophy parade in the Spanish capital to mark yet another Champions League title.
He will therefore not be available for England’s friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina at St James’ Park tonight. But he will join his England team-mates for a final friendly against Iceland on Friday before the Euros kicks off.
An England source told The Sun: ‘He’ll probably join in light training with the squad on Wednesday or Thursday but Gareth Southgate will want him to take a well-earned break.
‘He might be on the substitutes’ bench against Iceland but is unlikely to get any game time.’
Jude was one of England’s standout performers at last year’s World Cup in Qatar, helping the Three Lions reach the qurater-finals before they were knocked out by France.
He scored his first goal for his country in the tournament during a 6-2 win over Iran, making him England’s second youngest World Cup goalscorer, behind Michael Owen.
He has since become a regular in Southgate’s line-up, with the manager admitting previously: ‘His mentality is incredible. To show such maturity and humility at such a young age is incredible and we’re lucky to have him.’