Craig Bellamy

Former Wales international Craig Bellamy has announced his retirement from all forms of football, saying that his body couldn’t take the rigors of training day in and day out anymore.

The 34 year old Cardiff City striker played the last match of his professional career in the 2-1 defeat at the hands of Chelsea in the last game of the Premier League season which confirmed the team’s relegation to the Championship.

Bellamy, a former Wales skipper, made 78 international appearances for the Dragons before retiring from international
football in 2013.

Cardiff city manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says that striker Craig Bellamy will decide upon his future in the next few weeks. The club were relegated to the championship after finishing bottom of the Premier league table. Bellamy, who has been one of the top strikers from Wales in the last few decades, has been a major reason towards the club coming close to staying up in the division. Even though they finished bottom of the table, it was only in the last few weeks of the campaign that relegation was confirmed. Bellamy is out of contract at the end of the season.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has stated that one of his biggest regrets has been the inability to work with Craig Bellamy. The former Liverpool striker is currently playing for Cardiff City and he is unlikely to join a club like Liverpool once again.

He spent a couple of seasons at the club in two spells, but left the Reds in the summer of the 2011-12 season. This was when Rodgers came to the club to replace Roy Hodgson. Rodgers has since taken Liverpool to new heights, while Bellamy has been playing with Cardiff for the last few seasons.

Cardiff city striker Craig Bellamy will be coming up against his former club Liverpool during the weekend. Even though he is unlikely to start the match, the Welsh international has revealed that he wants Cardiff to win the encounter. Three points will be crucial for the relegation threatened team, who sit just one place above the bottom of the table. Even though Bellamy says that he wants Liverpool to lose this weekend, the striker has stated that it would be a great feeling to see Liverpool win the league title once again.

Craig Bellamy (Welsh footballer) will be facing a suspension for around three football matches because the Football Association has filed a charge of violent conduct against the Cardiff Forward.

The violent conduct took place in a match of the Premier League that was held on the 8th of February, 2014. The match was between Cardiff City and Swansea City. Craig Bellamy actually clashed with Jonathan De Guzman during the 2nd half of the football match. The Football Association confirmed on 9th of February, 2014 that the violent incident did occur and the association was aware of it.

The former Cardiff city and West Ham defender Danny Gabbidon has said that the arrival of Tony Pulis has worked to the benefit of Crystal Palace, as the former Stoke city manager has been able to organise the defence. Pulis has been out of work after leaving Stoke city at the end of last season.

He returned to management after taking over the difficult job at Crystal Palace. The club have been installed as the favourites for relegation, which is something Pulis has never experienced in his long managerial career. However, many expected Crystal Palace to go down even after the arrival of Pulis.

The head coach of Cardiff City Malky Mackay has insisted that the 34 years old Welshman Craig Bellamy still is an important player for the team even though he has only made 6 appearances for the Premier League team in this season and was left on the sidelines in their last few matches.

“Craig is absolutely part of and involved in everything we do here.He has been rested over the last couple of matches, but is always in contention." said Mackay

Cardiff City is struggling in the Premier League fighting their way out of the bottom relegation spots alongside Sunderland and Crystal Palace as those are the only 2 clubs behind them in the standings.

Craig Bellamy confirmed his retirement from international football some weeks ago when he played during Wales’ match against Belgium and later revealed it to be a very emotional moment for him.
"To soak in your national anthem. I'm speechless about it, but it is really nice. It's something I do cherish.

"It did hit home a bit that I'm not going to be this side of it again.

"I've enjoyed every second of it. To reach 78 [caps] and the injuries I've had down the years. I'm delighted."

He also expressed his desire to manage Wales in some way or another. Although he does not seem to be as appreciated in his club as he is in the international level.

The manager of Cardiff City, Malky Mackay, has said that he had dropped Craig Bellamy from the starting line up against Fulham just to bring in some fresh energy. Mackay insisted that the 34 years-old Welsh forward is still a vital player for him.

In the match against Fulham, Bellamy was replaced by Peter Odemwingie in the starting XI of Cardiff. Bellamy did come onto the ground, but, towards the end of the game.

Nevertheless, Cardiff won that match by 2-1 courtesy an injury time goal by Jordon Mutch.

In a press conference yesterday, when Mackay was asked about his decision of not including Bellamy in the starting line up against Fulham, he said, “I just wanted to have some fresh energy in the XI. So, I went with Peter.”

Cardiff City manager Malky Mackay believes Craig Bellamy should retire from international football in order to prolong his club career. It is expected that Bellamy will retire from playing for Wales once the FIFA World Cup qualifiers come to an end in October and according his club manager, the decision will ultimately turn out to be good for the player.

According to Mackay, it is time that the former Newcastle United and Liverpool man calls time on his international career as he has said he will do so that a new breed of players from an entirely new generation comes through. He went on to add that the veteran striker has had a long history of injuries and the lack of traveling for international football will only be good for his career.