England icon Sir Geoff Hurst has criticised the behaviour of Mark Bellingham, father of Jude and Jobe.
Hurst, 83, is best known for scoring a hat-trick in the 1966 World Cup final, while he also enjoyed a hugely successful club career for the likes of West Ham and Stoke City.
The former striker is the last living member of that World Cup-winning team from 59 years ago, but he had a word of warning for Bellingham Snr following his recent actions.
It comes after Mark – who is a key advisor for both of his sons – confronted members of the Borussia Dortmund hierarchy back in August when Jobe was substituted at half-time of his debut for the German side.
Dortmund had drawn 3-3 with St Pauli after squandering a 3-1 lead and reports at the time suggested Mark waited in the tunnel at full-time, before he held an emotional discussion with Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl. Within the confrontation, Mark voiced his frustration over both Jobe’s substitution and the team’s overall performance.
And Hurst has now weighed in on the incident and suggested Mark, who has become an increasingly influential figure within English football, needs to become less intense in his involvements with his two sons’ careers.
‘A thing that has irritated me is a picture in one of the papers about the most powerful man in English football – and it’s Jude Bellingham’s father,’ he said when speaking at a recent event in Bristol.
‘He was complaining when his son was taken off in a game – and that is an absolute joke. If you don’t eradicate that kind of thing, that is an absolute disgrace.’
At the event, Hurst had earlier praised Jude and Harry Kane as the two England stars he most admires, but the encounter surrounding the Real Madrid star’s father had clearly raised alarm bells.
Meanwhile, Jobe made a £33million summer move from Sunderland to Dortmund, where Jude spent three seasons before signing for Real Madrid.
After the incident, the German side have now clamped down on their dressing room protocols by banning all family members from the area.
German outlet BILD also reported at the time that Mark sought a meeting with manager Niko Kovac directly – and ‘made no secret of his opinion.’
Some Dortmund players are also said to have noticed how emotional he was.
However, speaking about the situation at the time, Dortmund’s managing director Lars Ricken played down the nature of the chat insisting it was ‘not a problem’ but did confirm that an incident like this would not happen in future.
‘We got Jobe Bellingham because we really built a relationship of trust with the parents over the years. Now the family flew in especially for their son’s first Bundesliga game and wanted to meet Jobe after the game,’ Ricken told Sky90 – The Football Debate.
‘They stood in the hallway to the locker room and had an emotional conversation with Sebastian, which, however, is not a problem at all given this relationship.
‘In the future though, we will ensure that players, coaches, and any officials have access to the locker room area, so that we no longer get into trouble by commenting on such news.
‘But today everything has been resolved – no drama.’
Hurst’s comments on Mark Bellingham also come after it was reported that he has split with wife Denise, with the pair set to bring their marriage of more than two decades to an end following years of living in separate countries.
At the event, Hurst also went on to give his verdict on Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel, with the 83-year-old insisting he would rather have an England coach in charge of the team, although he added that he believes in the German.
‘Overall, you have to strongly argue the managers who have had the best results for our national side have been English, starting with Sir Alf Ramsey,’ he added.
‘And I must admit I generally prefer to have, as many other countries do, a national manager who shares the same nationality as the players.
‘It’s very simple when it comes to management – if Tuchel does well next summer and we do well in the World Cup, he will have done a fantastic job.
‘He appears to have all the credentials to be a successful England manager but it just comes down to results.’
