Jude Bellingham’s grandad inspired his patriotism: This is his story

Legacy: it is a concept that Jude Bellingham values and attaches great significance to. It is why he was proud to present Liverpool’s Rio Ngumoha with his first England cap in Miami last month, in the same way he received his maiden one from Jordan Henderson.

Your actions echo through time and it was when Bellingham spoke about singing the national anthem with, among others, his grandfather in mind that he illustrated what legacy means to him.

“I think about my grandad, who passed away just before my Englanddebut,” the Real Madrid midfielder said after they opened their World Cup pursuit with a 4-2 win over Croatia.

“He was so patriotic. He was an Englishman through and through. He could give you every fact about every war, every battle, every king and queen. I do think about him when that moment is coming.”

This was no idle claim. William Bellingham did not get to see the direction in which the careers of Jude and Jobe, the children of his son Mark, progressed. He died in November 2020, the same month the then 17-year-old Jude made his England debut in a 3-0 win against the Republic of Ireland.

But there is no question his influence on them continues to be felt. Speak to those who knew William and they describe him as a man of military bearing. That is no surprise – he served in the Army in Berlin. For him, as for Jude, patriotism was never far from the surface.

William, who was affectionately known to many as “Bill”, was a pillar of the community across three decades at Southend High School for Boys (SHSB). He was a polyglot with a passion for travel, who became head of French and, before his retirement in 1995, was head of modern foreign languages.

It is not an exaggeration to say he would have been proud to watch Jude converse in fluent Spanish with a Venezuelan TV reporter about the earthquakes that have riven the country, following England’s last-32 win over DR Congo.

William knew that travel broadens horizons. He taught in Singapore and spent six years working for Guinness in Nigeria, after that stint in the Forces. It is why he would impart wisdom and encourage pupils to reach for the stars.

The school, which is based in Prittlewell Chase and is close to Southend United’s weathered Roots Hall stadium, has a motto which, in many ways, fits in with the approach England’s No 10 has taken throughout his career: Forti Nihil Difficile – nothing is difficult for the brave.

That was how he approached his life. Why else would he have entered Mastermind in 1987? He appeared in the show that was broadcast on BBC One to a primetime Sunday audience on April 5 – sitting in the black chair opposite Magnus Magnusson – with his specialist subject being “Nigeria 1900-1966”.

“I remember watching him,” says Stuart Reynolds, for whom Mr Bellingham was both his form and French teacher from 1979 to 1983. “He did fairly well, as I recall, and I was very proud of him. It isn’t your average quiz show, is it? He was just a genuinely nice chap.”

“We were all convinced that he had been in the Army. He always had a short haircut, he had a small moustache and he stood, at all times, with his back straight upright.

“I remember, on a school trip to Paris, he taught me how to play cribbage. He was one of my favourite teachers. We had what you would describe as a ‘lively’ class but he kept everyone in line. He was firm but always fair, never taking any nonsense.

“We used to hand him our homework diaries each week, which he would check and sign. If you hadn’t done the tasks you were supposed to, you would be disciplined. Most teachers would have you doing lines, but he would say to you: ‘Write five sentences with irregular French verbs.’

“He knew lines were pointless and he wanted you to learn instead. I returned to teach in the school five years ago and there is a real sadness I never got the chance to tell him about how things went full circle. He was someone who I just wanted to say ‘thank you’ to for everything he had done.”

The greatest compliment a teacher can be paid is being recalled with such affection decades after they have taught pupils, but this is a common thread about William, who was a committed Christian and long-standing member of St James the Great parish council in Leigh-on-Sea.

He was remembered in that community for being a member of the “Wrinkly Ramblers”, for tending his allotment and for the pride he had for his family. His thirst for knowledge was voracious, his collection of literature enormous.

“I just remember he occupied a long coffee table in the staff room with all his textbooks,” another former colleague recalls. “It was stacked up so high it made me think of an archaeological cross-section of the Earth! He just seemed to add more layers of books to it.”

The more you learn, the more you understand why Jude’s words about always keeping him in his thoughts carried such depth. Neither Jude nor Jobe have ever forgotten the sacrifices Mark or their mother, Denise, made to give them the best chance of a successful career in football but, equally, William was inspirational.

SHSB has a school song and, although William would not have known it at the time, the second verse – which is still sung today – could have been written with Jude and Jobe, the Borussia Dortmund midfielder, in mind.

“And some shall picture pounding ball, on turf of sodden field; And some the fight on fiery pitch when grit refused to yield.”

Prophetic, isn’t it? Jude is the one who has kept going during this World Cup run, always looking as if he can make a difference when it mattered most. He is on his way to establishing his own legacy, having already reached 50 caps. Only a calamity will stop him reaching 100.

There will be more medals to come, more goals and more headlines, but you can be sure, more than anything, that the one thing he will want when it is all over is to be spoken about in the way William was when he retired from SHSB in 1995, as this testimony in the yearbook illustrated.

“A kindly man, incapable of a nasty thought about anybody, Bill has always been an unashamedly old-fashioned, erudite Christian teacher with uncompromising personal standards of integrity,” it read.

“Such consistency, based on the pursuit of proper spiritedly based values, did his teaching career credit. For this he was an excellent head of department and colleague to work with and, for this, the many pupils whom he has taught and cared for owe him a considerable debt.”

In streets close to SHSB, there are St George’s flags fluttering from windows, with World Cup fever gripping, as it is around the rest of the country.

Southend’s residents will be hoping Jude Bellingham can deliver something memorable at the Azteca Stadium against Mexico. He, simply, will be thinking of William.

“Everything that I have heard about him [William] is that he was committed to providing the finest education and the correct values,” says Rachel Worth, the SHSB headteacher. “He helped generations of children see that they could achieve anything they wanted to with hard work and enthusiasm.

“He embodied the school’s motto and his influence, to this day, is still felt far and wide. We have been proud to watch Jude and Jobe spread their wings – and we would be proud to welcome their family back to school any time at all.”

And, for that, there is no finer testament to William’s legacy.

[Source: Daily Telegraph]