Jude pic’s in Francis collection
A STARRY-EYED Jude Bellingham politely asked Birmingham legend Trevor Francis for a photograph after a chance meeting at the club’s academy.
Francis – football’s first £1million player when he joined Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest – duly obliged and the snapshot is now part of his mobile phone collection.
“Jude was probably about 12 then,” recalled Francis.
“My grandson was with Birmingham, so I would go and watch him train.
“I didn’t know one of them was Jude, but a couple of kids asked to have a photo with me.
“It was only when he made his debut for the Blues at 16 that somebody mentioned the photo.”
Midfielder Bellingham later moved to Germany’s Borussia Dortmund, chalking up another record with the £25m fee – the highest paid for a 17-year-old.
“Everyone who follows him closely says he is a real down-to-earth, polite, lad,” added Francis.
“He has taken it all in his stride and plays with incredible maturity for one so young.
“I am really pleased that he has come through one of the football clubs I have been attached to for a big chunk of my football life – 14 years, nine as a player and five as a manager.
“I thought it was a brave decision for a boy to leave home and his hometown club to go abroad.
“When I left
Birmingham, I’d had nine seasons there.”
There have also been two cameo appearances for England to give Bellingham a chance of making the Euros.