**Mirrors / Alternative Angles**
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Note English football doesn't have a tradition of retiring numbers at all, instead numbers like 7, 9 and 10 are seen as an honour to be awarded at many clubs. Numbers are only retired when players die tragically while still at the club.
The only top level instance, I believe, of a top level English club retiring a number for legendary reasons is West Ham retiring Bobby Moore's 6 long after he died. This is controversial at the club, as there was a linked merchandise push and many would rather see the shirt worn by deserving players.
Even if Bellingham is recognised as the goat, I'll still oppose the decision.
Even more so when even according to this guy's arguments, Bellingham's best achievements will be for another club.
It's like Man U retiring the number 7 for Ronaldo when he fucked off and gave his best years to Real. Bellingham wont be remembered by anyone as a Birmingham legend, he'll be a Real Madrid legend
I can argue that number 7 itself at United is legendary and bigger than all players. Imagine getting that shirt knowing so many great players played with in the past.
Your point is correct but your example is bad since Ronaldo arguably was already a united legend. It’s more like Southampton retiring Van Dijks number because he went on to become a Liverpool legend.
> Bellingham's best achievements will be for another club.
Except the club wouldn't exist today without the money from his sale. Of which he decided to sign for us and play for a year instead of going to another club for free earlier.
It should be used very rarely. For example we retired two numbers, one for our then most capped player who never left the club in his entire career. The other dedicated to the fans. Don't think we'll ever retire another number.
I think retiring it for an active player is fine. I think retiring it for an active player because you think he's gonna be really good in the future, and not for having a great, lengthy tenure at your club is fuckin silly.
They should not retire them for legends either. Any self-respecting club knows that the shirt with the badge is greater than any player who wears it, simply because a football team aspires to always be there to fulfill its mission while the player will only be there for a while, no matter how successful.
You retire a number out of respect for the past and someones achivements at the club, not as a prediction of the future, it was daft then and will still be daft regardless if if he wins 500 champions leagues and the robot ballon dor.
There’s also the context that he signed a new contract so that the club could get a substantial fee for him, which was super important as the club was in financial difficulties.
I’m sure a Birmingham fan can clarify details here, as I’m just bouncing from memory.
It's less financial difficulties and more that without that fee, Birmingham City as a club might not exist anymore. If he doesn't sign that contract and instead moves under tribunal, as every agent in the world would advise, they go into administration, and there's a very big chance we'd be talking about Birmingham in the same breath as Bury and Macclesfield.
Bit more than "thanks mate". Retiring a shirt because the kid saved the club financially (they possibly could have folded) and having the forsight to see that a local lad was going to be world class is a pretty rational reason to thank/honour him by retiring his number.
>having the forsight to see that a local lad was going to be world class is a pretty rational reason to thank/honour him by retiring his number.
Retiring numbers ain't about forsight lmao it's about what's happened, not what he's gonna do. All the same, he's not doing those things at Birmingham, hes doing it at other clubs. Why retire this number? Just make a statue.
You keep saying it's about what's happened but that's your definition. It's literally to honour the player. Numbers have been retired when players have died.
>You keep saying it's about what's happened but that's your definition
Is it? or is it the universal truth that is applied across all sports.
>It's literally to honour the player.
There are better ways to honour a 16yr old player that played one season at their club. All the same, my issue is moreso how they keep phrasing the conversation and justifying the retiring of his number with each accomplishment he achieves elsewhere, basically saying like "look look! We were right to retire his number!" like dude, just say what it is, he saved the club financially. You didn't retire his number because of his talent nor what he did at the club, you retired it because you wouldn't be a club without his transfer.
A 16yo effectively donated an 8 digit sum to the club that save them from bankruptcy.
Idk we can argue if retiring the number is the right tribute but it's up to the club and its fans, and most Birmingham fans are okay with it. If someone literally saves my club they could build a statue of his in front of the stadium for all I care, rather be tinpot than history.
What? It cost him a significant amount of his sign in fee. Without this he would've been almost free which means he could've gotten a nice signing bonus. Since Dortmund shelled out 20m(?) he most definitely got none of that.
It's fine to still hate it but he clearly could've gotten a relevant amount of money instead but chose not to.
>There’s also the context that he signed a new contract so that the club could get a substantial fee for him, which was super important as the club was in financial difficulties.
Damn, that changes...
Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Embarrassing then, embarrassing now.
Yeah, why did they decide to embarrass themselves instead of doing things the very cool way and just get bought up by an oligarch instead? Are they stupid?
It's more than just tinpot, it's absolutely bizarre.
Retiring the number of a 16 year old who has played 1 full season with you is fucking nuts. He could go on to be one of the best players in the history of football and it would still be ridiculous, there's nothing he could possibly do in his career that would make it a reasonable decision.
He was on a youth contract and could have left for peanuts but signed a pro deal to ensure Birmingham, who were in the shitter financially, could get a big payday for him.
On the flip side there's everychance it would have been effectively retired anyway as players would have seen that number as too big a burden.
We never officially retired Zola's shirt but no one dared to touch it for 2 decades.
is this a joke? the united 7, liverpool 8, barca 10 etc are far more likely to be "burdens" but haven't been retired and not really even talked off much about how the players wearing them failed to deliver.
naby keita didn't flop at liverpool because of the burden of the 8, he did so because of the burden of his upper body on his knee
Yeah that's what I meant. It took 20 years after Zola leaving for someone to have the balls to go near it.
I can't imagine anyone would touch the 22 shirt at Birmingham for atleast the same period of time even if they could have
I think is more the fact that 25 is a high and rare number, than say Hazard beign afraid of using it, if Zola had wear number 10 then it would have been taken almost immediately.
still think it's really silly
Dinamo Zagreb for example would never retire the number 10 because of Modrić... and he actually won like *3 leagues and cups with the club
Even if the player becomes generational I would sooner retire the number of a player that stayed the whole career with the club than someone that built their name with someone else
Nah, Luca won the league 3 times in Croatia.
Look at his honours. Full of titles with Dinamo and Real Madrid. Why is his time at spurs time not mentioned😁
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luka_Modri%C4%87
yeah you're right. He won the one Bosnian league at Zrinjski at 18, returned and was sent on loan to Inter Zaprešić. They were top of the league with 3 Dinamo loanees in January (Eduardo, Modrić and Ćorluka), Dinamo went into that season catastrophically so they were all recalled, but still barely played, that was in 2005 and then 2006-2008 he won 3 leagues right?
Read an article recently in FourFourTwo on Jude and they interviewed Pep Clotet and apparently he's still so close with the Bellingham's that they basically treat him like family - he pops in to their house on a regular basis. He also mentioned they basically had to babysit his brother Jobe by bringing him to training during early lockdown because both their parents were working and he was only 14-15, only to find out when he joined in on a few sessions that he was actually pretty decent himself! That led them to him signing a pro contract and making a tidy profit when they sold him to Sunderland.
Mental how concerned people are with it and need to make their thoughts on it known. In the grand scheme of things it's a minor move and their reasons behind it were very clear - who gives a fuck if it's a bit weird.
> Mental how concerned people are with it and need to make their thoughts on it known.
Almost like they're on a discussion board about football, discussing football.
I understand they developed him and he played with them for a year, gave them a good transfer fee and helped improve the club's prospects with landing promising young players.
But retiring a jersey for that is not understandable.
Now if he comes back in 15 years and does bits for you, sure, otherwise it just isn't justified.
It didn’t just improve their prospects, it stopped them from going into administration. It’s not hyperbolic to say that the continued existence of Birmingham football club is a consequence of Jude making that decision
Even if there was a grand expectation that Jude would become the world's best player one day, it wouldn't have come with Birmingham and it would still seem silly. People think of Madrid and Dortmund when they think of Jude before they think about Birmingham.
If it was a legacy thing done because he signed a new contract to elicit a transfer fee to the club instead of leaving on a free to Dortmund, that's fine, celebrate that, I'm sure Jude still cares deeply for the fortunes of the club. Creating other reasons to explain to "justify" yourselves is silly, nobody's buying what you're selling.
why did clotet even phrase it this way, the reason for retiring 22 wasnt a prediction of his future, it was because bellingham stopped birmingham from going under.
Still tinpot behaviour. Bizarre to retire a 16 year olds shirt number. A literal child. No matter what kind of player he is now or becomes. Embarrassing behaviour.
Bollocks to the lot of you. He gave up a MASSIVE payday to sign with us so that he'd have to be sold. The money we got from his sale is pretty much the only reason we still exist as a club. What's a bigger achievement for a player, winning trophies or rescuing your club from death's door with a selfless act.
Tinpot behaviour unless that player has an unbeatable legacy with the club, let future players forge their own stories and moments with certain numbers.
Tbh it's the clubs decision and no matter how bizzare or ridiculous it might be they value it their own way. The original context that was given a while ago was that his renewal forced Dortmund to buy him for a fee that would keep the club afloat financially and not shut down. Anyhow, it's so funny that people get upset about some random gesture as if it's forbidden by some sacred rule.
Mad that anyone still cares about this. It’s not that big of a deal that some washed up 30 something striker isn’t wearing 22 because they retired it. No one is missing out
I think it's dumb to retire a number. It's much better to have numbers be tied to a legend and it be an honour to be the one to wear it. As an example, the number 99 in Porto that's now used by Diogo Costa will always be tied to Vitor Baia and it's great when it's used by someone that probaly always dreamt of being like him and is realizing their dream
Why does everyone seem to forget he signed a contract, which allowed the club to get a substantial fee for him, which saved the club from administration and folding. The club flat out wouldn't exist if he hadn't done this
Colorado Avs retired Ray Borque's number and he only played one season for them. Miami Heat retired Michael Jordan's number and he never played for them. Clubs retire numbers in the US for owners, for the fans, and any random reason they want. Saving the club from administration seems like a good reason to me, even if he was young. You can always unretire it.
This sort of comment comes up a lot recently like the fact Jude is a good player has proven everyone else wrong. I think most people still think its pretty embarrassing even if he starts collecting ballon d'ors like infinity stones. Just makes the club feel small like there a Sunday league side who happened to discover a top player and its all they'll ever been known for so they want to make the most of it. Wonder if they'll open a Jude Bellingham museum in 20 years to immortalise his one full season. Same for the usually comments about how much the club needed the money. Just seems bizarre to retire a 16 yr olds shirt number no matter what. Theres a genuine debate about if clubs should do it at all even for all time greats. Imagine if we had retired Rooneys when he left for united, people would still be laughing.
It's funny how the ones who don't seem to understand the real reason why are the ones with Chelsea/spurs/Liverpool etc flairs.
We get it, your teams conduct business in football like they're playing with monopoly money.
For other clubs, the difference between a highly rated youth player signing a contract or not can be the difference between surviving or not.
If Jude didn't sign his contract that season they blues probably will have folded.
He didn't save you tho did he, its what you fans drummed up in each of your heads to justify the ridiculousness of retiring a shirt for a player that achieved nothing for you club😂😂
You fans? Save you?
I’m also not defending the retiring of the shirt, I think it was largely unnecessary but I also don’t care what a club does with their shirts numbers.
Birmingham is a pretty big club relatively speaking as well. What if Southampton retired Gareth Bale’s number for his career achievements
Don’t get yourself so in debt that you do something like this is the real lesson.
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I still stand by no club should retire a number for an active player, never mind a 16 year old.
Note English football doesn't have a tradition of retiring numbers at all, instead numbers like 7, 9 and 10 are seen as an honour to be awarded at many clubs. Numbers are only retired when players die tragically while still at the club. The only top level instance, I believe, of a top level English club retiring a number for legendary reasons is West Ham retiring Bobby Moore's 6 long after he died. This is controversial at the club, as there was a linked merchandise push and many would rather see the shirt worn by deserving players. Even if Bellingham is recognised as the goat, I'll still oppose the decision.
Even more so when even according to this guy's arguments, Bellingham's best achievements will be for another club. It's like Man U retiring the number 7 for Ronaldo when he fucked off and gave his best years to Real. Bellingham wont be remembered by anyone as a Birmingham legend, he'll be a Real Madrid legend
Well Ronaldo won ballon at man u , 3 titles , broke the goal record. His man u record is already a legendary carrier.
I can argue that number 7 itself at United is legendary and bigger than all players. Imagine getting that shirt knowing so many great players played with in the past.
And he reached his peak at Real Madrid
But he's more of a Madrid legend than United.
Your point is correct but your example is bad since Ronaldo arguably was already a united legend. It’s more like Southampton retiring Van Dijks number because he went on to become a Liverpool legend.
> Bellingham's best achievements will be for another club. Except the club wouldn't exist today without the money from his sale. Of which he decided to sign for us and play for a year instead of going to another club for free earlier.
It should be used very rarely. For example we retired two numbers, one for our then most capped player who never left the club in his entire career. The other dedicated to the fans. Don't think we'll ever retire another number.
I think retiring it for an active player is fine. I think retiring it for an active player because you think he's gonna be really good in the future, and not for having a great, lengthy tenure at your club is fuckin silly.
What clubs have retired numbers? I know we have 23 retired for Foe
They should not retire them for legends either. Any self-respecting club knows that the shirt with the badge is greater than any player who wears it, simply because a football team aspires to always be there to fulfill its mission while the player will only be there for a while, no matter how successful.
You retire a number out of respect for the past and someones achivements at the club, not as a prediction of the future, it was daft then and will still be daft regardless if if he wins 500 champions leagues and the robot ballon dor.
There’s also the context that he signed a new contract so that the club could get a substantial fee for him, which was super important as the club was in financial difficulties. I’m sure a Birmingham fan can clarify details here, as I’m just bouncing from memory.
Even so, 'thanks for that mate, much appreciated' isn't a good enough reason either.
It's less financial difficulties and more that without that fee, Birmingham City as a club might not exist anymore. If he doesn't sign that contract and instead moves under tribunal, as every agent in the world would advise, they go into administration, and there's a very big chance we'd be talking about Birmingham in the same breath as Bury and Macclesfield.
AKA dead and Bury-ed
Bit more than "thanks mate". Retiring a shirt because the kid saved the club financially (they possibly could have folded) and having the forsight to see that a local lad was going to be world class is a pretty rational reason to thank/honour him by retiring his number.
>having the forsight to see that a local lad was going to be world class is a pretty rational reason to thank/honour him by retiring his number. Retiring numbers ain't about forsight lmao it's about what's happened, not what he's gonna do. All the same, he's not doing those things at Birmingham, hes doing it at other clubs. Why retire this number? Just make a statue.
You keep saying it's about what's happened but that's your definition. It's literally to honour the player. Numbers have been retired when players have died.
>You keep saying it's about what's happened but that's your definition Is it? or is it the universal truth that is applied across all sports. >It's literally to honour the player. There are better ways to honour a 16yr old player that played one season at their club. All the same, my issue is moreso how they keep phrasing the conversation and justifying the retiring of his number with each accomplishment he achieves elsewhere, basically saying like "look look! We were right to retire his number!" like dude, just say what it is, he saved the club financially. You didn't retire his number because of his talent nor what he did at the club, you retired it because you wouldn't be a club without his transfer.
Alright I'm tapping out, can't be arsed with a last-word merchant trying to explain a decision from a club I fucking hate.
First time I’ve ever agreed with a Villa fan.
I don't get it why some redditors are pissed on another clubs way of appreciating what their player did for them?
Its just a discussion on a discussion board, its not that deep.
Because they’re angry and want everyone to know.
they're the ones bring it up again lol
I dont think that changes anything?
A 16yo effectively donated an 8 digit sum to the club that save them from bankruptcy. Idk we can argue if retiring the number is the right tribute but it's up to the club and its fans, and most Birmingham fans are okay with it. If someone literally saves my club they could build a statue of his in front of the stadium for all I care, rather be tinpot than history.
He didn’t effectively donate anything. Signing with them cost himself nothing, and he still got his move
What? It cost him a significant amount of his sign in fee. Without this he would've been almost free which means he could've gotten a nice signing bonus. Since Dortmund shelled out 20m(?) he most definitely got none of that. It's fine to still hate it but he clearly could've gotten a relevant amount of money instead but chose not to.
>There’s also the context that he signed a new contract so that the club could get a substantial fee for him, which was super important as the club was in financial difficulties. Damn, that changes... Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Embarrassing then, embarrassing now.
Yeah, why did they decide to embarrass themselves instead of doing things the very cool way and just get bought up by an oligarch instead? Are they stupid?
The club genuinely could've folded without the money from his sale, which they only got because he chose to sign a contract (for no personal benefit)
Almost as embarrassing as fawning over an oligarch.
Exactly!! They would look especially foolish if he ended up injury prone… he hasnt won anything of note yet!
How he performs for other clubs has nothing to do with a Birmingham shirt number
nope still tinpot
It's more than just tinpot, it's absolutely bizarre. Retiring the number of a 16 year old who has played 1 full season with you is fucking nuts. He could go on to be one of the best players in the history of football and it would still be ridiculous, there's nothing he could possibly do in his career that would make it a reasonable decision.
He was on a youth contract and could have left for peanuts but signed a pro deal to ensure Birmingham, who were in the shitter financially, could get a big payday for him.
On the flip side there's everychance it would have been effectively retired anyway as players would have seen that number as too big a burden. We never officially retired Zola's shirt but no one dared to touch it for 2 decades.
is this a joke? the united 7, liverpool 8, barca 10 etc are far more likely to be "burdens" but haven't been retired and not really even talked off much about how the players wearing them failed to deliver. naby keita didn't flop at liverpool because of the burden of the 8, he did so because of the burden of his upper body on his knee
We should really stop giving players the 7. It's been cursed for 15 years
How did you not mention the Liverpool 7?
Isn't Caicedo wearing the #25?
Yeah that's what I meant. It took 20 years after Zola leaving for someone to have the balls to go near it. I can't imagine anyone would touch the 22 shirt at Birmingham for atleast the same period of time even if they could have
I think is more the fact that 25 is a high and rare number, than say Hazard beign afraid of using it, if Zola had wear number 10 then it would have been taken almost immediately.
I see, I read it the wrong way, sry. Yeah, I don't see anyone wearing Bellingham's number there for a good while
We’ve done the same with Ledley King’s 26, since he retired, no one has worn it.
Still pathetic
still think it's really silly Dinamo Zagreb for example would never retire the number 10 because of Modrić... and he actually won like *3 leagues and cups with the club Even if the player becomes generational I would sooner retire the number of a player that stayed the whole career with the club than someone that built their name with someone else
It’s a long term PR stunt where he will come back to Birmingham at 37yo and wear the number 22
Like Totti at Roma.
Nah, Luca won the league 3 times in Croatia. Look at his honours. Full of titles with Dinamo and Real Madrid. Why is his time at spurs time not mentioned😁 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luka_Modri%C4%87
yeah you're right. He won the one Bosnian league at Zrinjski at 18, returned and was sent on loan to Inter Zaprešić. They were top of the league with 3 Dinamo loanees in January (Eduardo, Modrić and Ćorluka), Dinamo went into that season catastrophically so they were all recalled, but still barely played, that was in 2005 and then 2006-2008 he won 3 leagues right?
r/soccer try not to make a Spurs Trophyless joke (IMPOSSIBLE)
get a trophy then
win literally anything then
weirdo behaviour
Read an article recently in FourFourTwo on Jude and they interviewed Pep Clotet and apparently he's still so close with the Bellingham's that they basically treat him like family - he pops in to their house on a regular basis. He also mentioned they basically had to babysit his brother Jobe by bringing him to training during early lockdown because both their parents were working and he was only 14-15, only to find out when he joined in on a few sessions that he was actually pretty decent himself! That led them to him signing a pro contract and making a tidy profit when they sold him to Sunderland.
Nah still think it was a bit weird tbh
Didn't know they spoke French in Birmingham
Oh good, we’re talking about this again
Even worse that it is being started up again by this utter fucknut.
Mental how concerned people are with it and need to make their thoughts on it known. In the grand scheme of things it's a minor move and their reasons behind it were very clear - who gives a fuck if it's a bit weird.
> Mental how concerned people are with it and need to make their thoughts on it known. Almost like they're on a discussion board about football, discussing football.
Person on Internet forum is flabbergasted people are discussing things
Exactly. No need to waste any brainpower on it
Ni...no..nah
I understand they developed him and he played with them for a year, gave them a good transfer fee and helped improve the club's prospects with landing promising young players. But retiring a jersey for that is not understandable. Now if he comes back in 15 years and does bits for you, sure, otherwise it just isn't justified.
It didn’t just improve their prospects, it stopped them from going into administration. It’s not hyperbolic to say that the continued existence of Birmingham football club is a consequence of Jude making that decision
Retiring numbers is daft. They should be seen as motivation for the next great player to come along and make it his own, adding to its history
Even if there was a grand expectation that Jude would become the world's best player one day, it wouldn't have come with Birmingham and it would still seem silly. People think of Madrid and Dortmund when they think of Jude before they think about Birmingham. If it was a legacy thing done because he signed a new contract to elicit a transfer fee to the club instead of leaving on a free to Dortmund, that's fine, celebrate that, I'm sure Jude still cares deeply for the fortunes of the club. Creating other reasons to explain to "justify" yourselves is silly, nobody's buying what you're selling.
why did clotet even phrase it this way, the reason for retiring 22 wasnt a prediction of his future, it was because bellingham stopped birmingham from going under.
Still tinpot behaviour. Bizarre to retire a 16 year olds shirt number. A literal child. No matter what kind of player he is now or becomes. Embarrassing behaviour.
Bollocks to the lot of you. He gave up a MASSIVE payday to sign with us so that he'd have to be sold. The money we got from his sale is pretty much the only reason we still exist as a club. What's a bigger achievement for a player, winning trophies or rescuing your club from death's door with a selfless act.
Nah it's still weird tbh
Still an embarrassment
Tinpot behaviour unless that player has an unbeatable legacy with the club, let future players forge their own stories and moments with certain numbers.
He does have an unbeatable legacy with the club. We still exist because of him.
Retiring numbers always stupid in every sport. Just write their names somewhere inside the stadium then. Number is just a number.
Nah, still comes off as naff. But I'm not keen on retiring shirt numbers in general.
Always knew Brummie was a beautiful dialect.
Didn't know Birmingham became French overnight
Absolute lunacy.
Tbh it's the clubs decision and no matter how bizzare or ridiculous it might be they value it their own way. The original context that was given a while ago was that his renewal forced Dortmund to buy him for a fee that would keep the club afloat financially and not shut down. Anyhow, it's so funny that people get upset about some random gesture as if it's forbidden by some sacred rule.
Mad that anyone still cares about this. It’s not that big of a deal that some washed up 30 something striker isn’t wearing 22 because they retired it. No one is missing out
City would build a statue
JBPR Jude Bellingham PR
So dumb lmao
Nope, it's still stupid to retire a number for a 16 year old who's moving away.
I think it's dumb to retire a number. It's much better to have numbers be tied to a legend and it be an honour to be the one to wear it. As an example, the number 99 in Porto that's now used by Diogo Costa will always be tied to Vitor Baia and it's great when it's used by someone that probaly always dreamt of being like him and is realizing their dream
We retired the number 7 for Peter Whittingham, a Cardiff legend who died a few years after leaving the club. This is pathetic
Still dumb.
Dumbest shit ever
That's dumb AF, small club energy. Very small.
Nah this is crazy this is like me tattooing the number of the professional players I went to high school with
Why does everyone seem to forget he signed a contract, which allowed the club to get a substantial fee for him, which saved the club from administration and folding. The club flat out wouldn't exist if he hadn't done this
No, no it was not.
Colorado Avs retired Ray Borque's number and he only played one season for them. Miami Heat retired Michael Jordan's number and he never played for them. Clubs retire numbers in the US for owners, for the fans, and any random reason they want. Saving the club from administration seems like a good reason to me, even if he was young. You can always unretire it.
This sort of comment comes up a lot recently like the fact Jude is a good player has proven everyone else wrong. I think most people still think its pretty embarrassing even if he starts collecting ballon d'ors like infinity stones. Just makes the club feel small like there a Sunday league side who happened to discover a top player and its all they'll ever been known for so they want to make the most of it. Wonder if they'll open a Jude Bellingham museum in 20 years to immortalise his one full season. Same for the usually comments about how much the club needed the money. Just seems bizarre to retire a 16 yr olds shirt number no matter what. Theres a genuine debate about if clubs should do it at all even for all time greats. Imagine if we had retired Rooneys when he left for united, people would still be laughing.
As a friend of mine and lifelong villa fan would say very often: Embarrassing stuff from small heath fc
Retiring numbers in sport, especially football, is mawkish nonsense. Let kids dream about wearing a legendary one.
Great player, but this is corny as fuck still
🤣🤣🤣
Nah, still too much. What the fuck?
he might even become the next carlton palmer one day but it’d still not justify it
Is he fucking dumb
Why does this trigger people so much lol. It's not a big deal.
It's funny how the ones who don't seem to understand the real reason why are the ones with Chelsea/spurs/Liverpool etc flairs. We get it, your teams conduct business in football like they're playing with monopoly money. For other clubs, the difference between a highly rated youth player signing a contract or not can be the difference between surviving or not. If Jude didn't sign his contract that season they blues probably will have folded.
Played 1 season, nearly got relegated "retired the shirt" 😂😂😂
Signed a contract so the club could benefit from a sale instead of leaving on a free and saves the club from administration. Funny you left that out.
A lot of players actually do that especially the academy players nothing special.
A lot of players save the club from administration?
He didn't save you tho did he, its what you fans drummed up in each of your heads to justify the ridiculousness of retiring a shirt for a player that achieved nothing for you club😂😂
You fans? Save you? I’m also not defending the retiring of the shirt, I think it was largely unnecessary but I also don’t care what a club does with their shirts numbers.
Birmingham have defined themselves as a third tier club where Jude Bellingham played one season
This is why you are in a relegation battle, your club is run by idiots
Lol this is so dumb
Nah, they weren't. He played one season for them, and it wasn't like he won them a trophy single handedly or anything.
So now we honoring not just legends but legend prospects aswell? Birmingham is totally wanking.
Birmingham is a pretty big club relatively speaking as well. What if Southampton retired Gareth Bale’s number for his career achievements Don’t get yourself so in debt that you do something like this is the real lesson.
He's not going to be remembered as 22 though is he.
Numbers should never be retired. It’s bullshit. Numbers and players become iconic. Pele. Maradona. Platini. Cruyff. Best. Dalglish.
Small club mentality and agree with the majority of comments here. Retire on past events, legacy, not the other way around
The best pep.