Jude Bellingham: From Birmingham City to the Bernabéu – his journey so far

Jude Bellingham, at only 20 years old, has already achieved a lot!

After leading Real Madrid to a La Liga title this season, he could be instrumental in another huge win for the Spanish side – the Champions League.

The final competition of the men’s season takes place on Saturday, with Real Madrid facing Borussia Dortmund.

No British team reached the final, with English Premier League sides Manchester City and Arsenal knocked out of the competition in the quarter-finals.

But it’s sure to be a fascinating clash as Bellingham doesn’t just play for Real Madrid, he used to play for Dortmund.

Bellingham has been a rising star in international soccer for several years now – so how did it get here?

Judging by the accolades that Real Madrid and England midfielder Jude Bellingham has already amassed, he is surely one of the best players in the game at the moment.

He was voted La Liga Player of the Season in his first year in Spain.

Bellingham joined the Spanish giants in the summer of 2023 and scored 23 goals in 41 appearances for Madrid.

His performances helped Real win the Spanish title by 10 points.

He won the Kopa Trophy in November 2023, which is awarded for being the best under-21 player in the world.

The Kopa trophy recognizes his performances last season, where he scored 14 times in 42 games for Borussia Dortmund, who he was with before joining Real Madrid.

Jude Bellingham grew up in Stourbridge, a town west of Birmingham in the West Midlands.

As a child he went to Stourbridge Juniors, a club set up by his father, former non-league footballer Mark Bellingham.

Jude Bellingham has previously spoken in interviews about his earliest memories playing football and the fun he had with his coaching father on Sunday mornings.

But his first coach, Phil Wooldridge, who recalled meeting Bellingham when he was four, says the love of football didn’t come naturally.

“As soon as you put a football in front of him, (he) wasn’t really interested,” he told the BBC.

“It took a while (for him to get into football), it wasn’t just overnight, it was a matter of months.”

But when it clicked for Bellingham, there was no stopping him.

His love for football grew through school and in his end-of-year book, under the heading ‘When I grow up I want to be…’, a young Jude Bellingham wrote: ‘professional footballer for England’.

In an interview with the BBC, former Bellingham principal Vanessa Payne said she “stood out for us all those years ago.”

Adding that “he was kind, he was caring and he was a good sport – and he was just someone people wanted to be around.

“He left a legacy here of sportsmanship and ambition and trying to be the best he could be,” Ms Payne said.

Bellingham began his football career at Birmingham City’s academy in their under-8 youth team and became the club’s youngest ever first-team player at the age of just 16.

“He’s always been very driven about where he wants to go,” says his former coach Mike Dodds, who worked with the England star at Birmingham.

Explaining that while he always knew Bellingham was very talented, Dodds, who is now manager at Sunderland, said it sometimes took him a while to realize how good he was: “I’ve seen him play in the Championship at 16, I sat down and thought ‘wow, this boy is a bit different from most”.

After just one season in Birmingham City’s first team, Bellingham moved to German club Borussia Dortmund.

In a decision that surprised many at the time, Birmingham City retired Bellingham’s shirt – 22 – meaning it will never be used again.

Normally a symbolic gesture used for players who were club legends who have retired or died, Birmingham City said the move was “to remember one of our own and to inspire others “.

Dortmund paid £25m for Bellingham, which is the biggest transfer fee for a 17-year-old.

But it seems their investment has paid off as he has become their youngest goalscorer in the Champions League.

And his team-mates agreed – former Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Burki said of Bellingham: “He was very confident.

“You could see from the first practice that he wasn’t afraid to go into duels and show his qualities and his mentality. It was clear from the beginning that this is a guy who is very good for our team.”

Still a teenager at the time, Bellingham was one of England’s standout performers at last year’s World Cup in Qatar.

The midfielder helped the Three Lions reach the quarter-finals of the competition, where they were eliminated by France.

He also scored his first goal for England in the tournament during a 6–2 win over Iran.

The goal made him England’s second youngest goalscorer at the World Cup, behind Michael Owen.

At 19 years and 145 days, Bellingham also became England’s third-youngest starter at a World Cup, behind Luke Shaw in 2014 and Michael Owen in 1998.

Since the World Cup, Bellingham has become a regular in the starting lineup for England.

Another outstanding performance helped his country earn qualification for Euro 2024 in Germany.

England boss Gareth Southgate said after the game: “His mentality is incredible. To show such maturity and humility at such a young age is incredible and we’re lucky to have him.”

Three years after the transfer to Dortmund and Bellingham was on the move again.

On June 14, he signed for Real Madrid – one of the biggest football clubs in the world – in a deal worth €103m (£88.5m).

Despite taking the club’s iconic number five shirt, made famous by Real Madrid legend Zinedine Zidane, Bellingham showed no signs of pressure.

Since joining, he has scored in several important matches, including a dream debut goal against Athletic Bilbao and a winner against Madrid’s rivals Barcelona.

Asked what his ambitions are in football, Bellingham said: “I want to win everything.

“I want to do everything in the game.

“I want to be a soccer icon.”