Former Liverpool and Manchester City star Craig Bellamy had a reputation for being unruly, perhaps none more so than when he grabbed referee Mark Clattenburg by the testicles
Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg has revealed his reaction to Craig Bellamy infamously grabbing him by the balls. The Durham-born official has previously gone over the incident, but few might know the reasons as to why it transpired in the first place, not to mention Clattenburg’s response.
The former top-flight official has said he and Bellamy, now manager of Wales, simply “didn’t get on” during their on-field careers. The latter was rarely far from contention, but this particular incident at the Etihad saw him take things close to the limit.
And it all stemmed from an unfortunate encounter at the Reebok Stadium in December 2009 when Bellamy, then playing for Manchester City, was unlucky to be sent off. Clattenburg was the man holding the whistle that day, and Bellamy made sure the ref didn’t forget it when they next came into contact.
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“So I was refereeing City [against] Bolton, and I cautioned him for dissent,” Clattenburg said during a recent appearance on Undr The Cosh. “I could’ve sent him off, but I cautioned him for dissent. I remember speaking to a [City] club official, and I said, ‘How do you put up with him week in, week out?’ And they f*****g put it in the media the next day.”
That exchange took place during the half-time interval, at which point the two teams were level at 2-2. The Reebok Stadium thriller eventually ended 3-3 after Carlos Tevez’s second of the game salvaged a point for City.
Clattenburg, who has previously named Bellamy among his most annoying players to officiate, continued to bemoan the breach of trust given he was only engaging in some casual banter with a club official at the time. And the leak left him irate as he referred to the official in question, adding: “F*****g bell, you know what I mean?”
One can perhaps understand the City frustration given he later sent Bellamy off for diving while attempting to win a penalty. However, he himself later admitted the decision, which was lambasted by then-City boss Mark Hughes, was “probably a bit harsh.”
“He never forgave us. And I never forgave it,” he continued. “Me and him just didn’t get on, y’know? Next time I was refereeing at Man City, and he was in the tunnel. And he said something to us. He said something like ‘f*****g w****r’ or something like that and just grabbed my balls.
“I just saw the funny side of it. To be fair, he was right. There’s no point being a**ey. He’s right, I probably shouldn’t have sent him off, but what happens happens. He dealt with it, I dealt with it, and we’ve moved on.”
It’s a mature approach considering many officials likely wouldn’t have taken the incident their in stride the same way. It’s one thing sending a player off on the pitch, but dismissing someone prior to a ball being kicked would be a much more unique occurrence.
Bellamy received four red cards over the course of his 18-year career: two in the Premier League, one in the Champions League and another in the Championship while playing for Norwich as a youngster.
As fate would have it, the first of those came in 1998 while facing future employers City at Carrow Road. He later moved to Newcastle and saw red during a 3-1 win over Arsenal in 2001, earning himself another red during a European defeat to Inter Milan the following year.
However, the Welshman is perhaps fortunate not to have one more blemish on his record following that run-in with Clattenburg 16 years ago. Now at the helm of his home nation, the Cardiff-born star will have to be on his best behaviour in any future tunnel encounters.
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