New Wales manager Craig Bellamy has advised aspiring coaches to “do their homework” before working with youth players as he addressed bullying claims made against him during his time in academy football.
The 44-year-old began his coaching career working with young players at Cardiff City and then Anderlecht, before stepping up to assist Vincent Kompany at the Belgian club as well as Burnley.
During Bellamy’s time with Cardiff, the club investigated a bullying claim made against the former striker and he subsequently stepped down from his role as their under-18s coach.
Cardiff said in October 2019 an investigation into accusations of bullying and abuse by current and former employees found “significant concerns”, though no individual was named by the club.
Bellamy denied and disputed the allegations and was not the subject of any disciplinary proceedings, but did issue a statement at the time saying he was “truly sorry” if he had offended anyone.
Having landed the Wales manager’s job, Bellamy says coaches looking to work with youth players must know what is acceptable.
“The message for everyone who goes into youth coaching is to be mindful,” said Bellamy.
“Please, really do your homework for the levels you’re going into and what you allow. I didn’t understand, so I apologised for that.
“There’s a lot of things that I thought might sound right, but it actually could be a big deal and I didn’t realise.”
Bellamy has admitted to “cheering against England in front of players from England” during his time working with younger players.
He said he was not aware at the time of the impact that might have.
“There was a lot of stuff I didn’t know,” said Bellamy.
“It’s not correct, you can’t do that. I honestly thought it was just nature for me. I didn’t understand how a young 18-year-old English boy might have felt.
“I’ve got to be honest, there’s a lot of stuff I looked at and should have been aware of.”
Bellamy said he was also unsure of how to deal with youth players using offensive language during games.
“I wasn’t dealing with 12, 13 or 14-year-olds, they were 17 or 18-year-olds,” said Bellamy.
“If you’re in school, then obviously you don’t swear, but I thought after school, maybe in that environment, I could turn a blind eye to it, but you can’t do that.
“I’ve reflected on what happened, I reflect on everything.”