Крейг Беллами: Уэльс футболшысы және жаттықтырушы жолы

Welsh footballer (born 1979)
the Australian rugby league football coach and former player

Craig Douglas Bellamy (born 13 July 1979) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a forward and is current assistant manager at Premier League side Burnley. Born in Cardiff, Bellamy began his senior playing career with Norwich City, where he made his professional debut in 1996. He signed for Premier League side Coventry City in 2000, breaking the club's record transfer fee, but suffered relegation in his only season. He joined Newcastle United the following year where he helped the club achieve two top four finishes during a four year spell. Bellamy fell out with manager Graeme Souness in 2005 and spent the latter part of the 2004–05 season on loan at Celtic, where he won the Scottish Cup. Bellamy returned to the Premier League later that year, playing one season with both Blackburn Rovers, where he was named the club's player of the year, and Liverpool, helping the club reach the 2007 UEFA Champions League final. In 2007 he signed for West Ham United but injury disrupted his time there and in 2009 he joined Manchester City. For the 2010–11 season, Bellamy dropped a division to the Championship to represent his boyhood club Cardiff City on a season long loan. He helped Cardiff reach the play offs before they were defeated in the semi finals. Bellamy returned to Liverpool the following season, winning the 2011–12 League Cup and reaching the FA Cup final, before rejoining Cardiff City permanently in 2012. He later led them to the Premier League; the first time in more than fifty years that Cardiff had played in the top tier of English football. He played one more season with the club in the Premier League, setting a new record by scoring for his seventh different club in the division, before retiring from playing in 2014. Having represented Wales at several youth levels, in 1998 at the age of 18, Bellamy made his senior debut for Wales against Jamaica. Over the next fifteen years, Bellamy gained 78 caps for his country and scored 19 goals. He was the captain of the side from 2007 to 2011, when he stepped down from the role due to recurring injuries. Bellamy retired from international football following the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign. He was also a member of the Great Britain Olympic team at the 2012 Olympics in London, appearing five times and scoring once. Bellamy has been involved in numerous high profile incidents during his career with teammates, managers and members of the public and was described by Bobby Robson as "the gobbiest footballer I've ever met". Outside football, he has been a patron of several charities and started his own organisation, The Craig Bellamy Foundation, in Sierra Leone to provide schooling and football coaching to disadvantaged children.

Craig Douglas Bellamy was born on 13 July 1979 at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, the second of three boys born to Douglas and Angela Bellamy. At the time, the family lived on Swinton Street near the Splott district of the city, a traditionally working class environment. Bellamy's mother worked as a cleaner and his father worked at the nearby Allied Steel and Wire site that overlooked the family home, where he remained until the plant's closure in 2002. At the age of five, Bellamy and his family moved to the eastern suburb Trowbridge, which is part of a council estate built in the 1960s. His father played amateur football for local Cardiff based sides; Bellamy described him as a "sluggish right back". He first attended Baden Powell Primary School before switching to Trowbridge Juniors where he joined the school football team at the age of seven. Despite being younger than most of the other players, he was selected to play and featured in his first match against Gladstone Primary School. Local team Pentwyn Dynamo took an interest in Bellamy but were put off by his small size; his father offered to form a team if Bellamy could find enough players. Soon after, the under 10s side of local team Caer Castell FC was formed, and Bellamy scored all four goals in the club's first fixture. He was later picked to represent both Cardiff Schools and a Cardiff and District side in national competition. but left the school with no GCSEs. At the age of 12, Bellamy became friends with a group of mostly older boys and began to regularly drink alcohol and skipped school for up to two weeks at a time. He saw several of his friends using cannabis and sniffing glue but denies ever using the substances himself. He later admitted to acting as a lookout while his friends broke into vehicles to steal car stereos to sell for drug money. He described himself as "a kid who knew he was going to be a footballer and thought he knew it all".

Bellamy attended youth sessions organised by Cardiff City in Ely for a year after being encouraged by his father. The club, however, took little interest in him as a youngster and, at nine years old, he joined Bristol Rovers after being spotted by former professional Stan Montgomery, who was working for Rovers. Although an hour's drive from his family home, Bellamy was swayed by the better coaching and his own playing kit. He spent two years with Bristol Rovers before being spotted by a scout working for Norwich City. The club invited Bellamy to a trial match in Somerset where he impressed and was asked to travel with the side to compete in the Dana Cup, an international youth football tournament held in Hjørring, Denmark. His performances led to a permanent place with the Canary Rangers, Norwich's youth development side. His first year away from home proved troublesome and he describes it as "the hardest year of my life", regularly crying himself to sleep due to homesickness. Bellamy reached a turning point in his career when his girlfriend Claire became pregnant while he was a youth player. He has credited this as a catalyst for his career that saw him become more determined to become a professional footballer, stating, "I have had the career I have had because of that moment when Claire phoned me up to tell me she was pregnant". At the end of the first year of his YTS deal, Bellamy was the only player promoted to the club's reserve side by coach Mike Phelan. Bellamy signed his first professional contract with Norwich when he turned 16, earning £250 a week, with the option to renegotiate after ten first team appearances. On 1 November, Bellamy scored his first senior goal, the opener in a 2–2 home draw with Bury. He received his first career red card on 7 February 1998 in the 23rd minute against Manchester City, but finished his first full season with 13 goals from 38 appearances, while playing mostly as a central midfielder. One training session left him "nearly in tears" after Kevin Scott repeatedly singled him out. Bellamy won support from his midfield partner, the experienced Peter Grant, who struck up a friendship with Bellamy. In December 1998, Bellamy suffered an injury to his left knee following a high challenge by Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Kevin Muscat that ruled him out for two months and left him with a puncture wound in his kneecap caused by one of Muscat's studs. The tackle caused so much consternation that Rioch had to be physically restrained by his coaching staff while Bellamy's Norwich teammate Iwan Roberts later admitted taking revenge on Muscat by stamping on his back when the pair met in a match two years later. Bellamy continued to experience soreness in the knee after his return for the remainder of the season but ended the campaign with a career high 19 goals in all competitions. Interest in Bellamy grew during the summer; Norwich rejected an offer of £3.5 million by Wimbledon while Newcastle United showed interest but held back from making a bid because they were waiting to sell Duncan Ferguson to finance the transfer.

As Newcastle stalled over a bid, Coventry City offered a club record £6 million to sign Bellamy, which Norwich accepted. Bellamy was reluctant to join the club, preferring a move to Newcastle; he met with Coventry manager Gordon Strachan to discuss the transfer. Bellamy did not employ an agent at the time so asked his financial advisor to attend the meeting. His advisor had recently met former footballer John Fashanu and telephoned him for advice, leading to Fashanu arriving at the meeting unannounced. The pressure of the situation led Bellamy to agree to the move but he regretted his decision, commenting, "They were persuasive. I felt undermined by the mess with Fashanu. I wanted to save face with Strachan. I felt stressed. My chest was tight because I'm asthmatic. I was struggling to breathe properly because I was so tense. I was in a state. So I did what everybody had told me not to do. I told Strachan I'd sign." He made his Premier League debut on the opening day of the 2000–01 season in a 3–1 defeat to Middlesbrough and converted a penalty in the following game, a 2–1 victory over Southampton. He endured a poor start to his career with Coventry, however, scoring only three league goals—two of which were penalties—by the start of December as the club found itself in the relegation zone. On 10 December 2000, he scored the winning goal in a 1–0 victory over Leicester City to gain his side three crucial points and Bellamy's form improved further after the arrival of his Wales strike partner John Hartson. Coventry were relegated at the end of the 2000–01 season after the team finished 19th in the Premier League. Bellamy ended his only season at Coventry with eight goals from 39 appearances. His tally of six in the league resulted in him finishing as the club's joint highest goalscorer in the league, tied with Hartson and Mustapha Hadji. After leaving the club, Bellamy said, "I never once enjoyed it at Coventry. I felt quite demoralised. I had enjoyed myself so much at Norwich – but I found I had taken a backward step."

Coventry looked to reduce their wage bill following relegation and accepted an offer of £6.5 million from Newcastle United for Bellamy. Newcastle manager Bobby Robson later wrote that Bellamy was "a great player wrapped round an unusual and volatile character". Bellamy's Newcastle debut came in the UEFA Intertoto Cup, with the club drawn against Belgian side Lokeren. In the first leg, Newcastle secured a 4–0 victory, in which Bellamy assisted Wayne Quinn and Shola Ameobi before scoring his first goal for the club in the second leg. Bellamy scored his first Premier League goal for Newcastle in a 1–1 draw against local rivals Sunderland at St James' Park on 28 August 2001. Two weeks later, he scored a hat trick in a 4–1 victory over Brentford in the League Cup, scoring all three goals within 12 minutes. Newcastle enjoyed a positive start to the season and moved into first place on 18 December 2001 after a 3–1 win over Arsenal. Bellamy was shown a straight red card in the match after being adjudged to have swung an arm at Ashley Cole, although the decision was overturned on appeal. Under Robson, Bellamy formed a productive strike partnership with Alan Shearer; the pair scored 41 goals between them during his first year. Bellamy remarked that his pace and creativity complemented Shearer's game. Later in the season, he was given a police caution for common assault after being accused of throwing a student out of teammate Kieron Dyer's car before kicking her. Bellamy refuted the accusations and stated the incident was sparked by the student slamming the car door on his leg after she refused to get out. Newcastle's title challenge gradually faded and Bellamy missed most of the season's final months after tearing a tendon during a match against Sunderland. He featured once in the last three months of the campaign as Newcastle finished fourth. In his first season, Bellamy scored 14 goals for the side and was awarded the PFA Young Player of the Year award. Bellamy underwent knee surgery during the summer break and was originally expected to be fit in time for the new season. His rehabilitation, however, was slow and he missed Newcastle's first four fixtures of the season. After returning from injury, Bellamy made his UEFA Champions League debut against Ukrainian side Dynamo Kyiv and was later given a retrospective three match ban for headbutting Tiberiu Ghioane in the latter stages of the match. Complications from his knee surgery caused problems throughout the season; inflammation occurred consistently after matches, leaving him struggling for fitness the following week. Bellamy began suffering from tendinitis in his knee and, following the death of his grandmother, experienced personal issues that culminated in an argument outside a Cardiff nightclub with a stranger. He was charged with the use of racially aggravated language over the incident. The charges were later dropped but Bellamy was convicted of using foul and abusive language and fined £750. He finished the 2002–03 season with nine goals in 37 appearances as Newcastle finished in third position. He missed more than three months of the campaign in recovery before returning to first team action on 31 January 2004 in a 1–1 draw with Birmingham City. In March 2004, media reports stated Bellamy threw a chair at first team coach John Carver after a public argument between the pair. The altercation occurred when the squad was travelling to play a UEFA Cup fixture with Real Mallorca and Bellamy refused to travel. Robson persuaded Bellamy to attend the match after a lengthy discussion; Bellamy praised Robson's handling of the incident and blamed the argument with Carver on pranks that had got out of hand.

The arrival of Patrick Kluivert from Barcelona provided increased competition for Bellamy going into the 2004–05 season and the sale of his Wales international teammate Gary Speed further weakened his position at the club. The pair had a public argument when Bellamy was pictured swearing at Souness after being substituted during a match and later had a physical altercation during a training session. The two stated the rift had been healed after Bellamy scored a last minute winning goal in a 4–3 victory over Manchester City in late October. Minutes later, Bellamy gave an interview saying he was prepared to play in any position for his club. With his Newcastle career in doubt, Bellamy later revealed he had feigned injury to leave a training session shortly before the Arsenal match. Souness responded by stating that Bellamy would never play for Newcastle again while he was manager and the club fined Bellamy two weeks' wages (about £80,000, around £120,000 in 2020). Bellamy was told to apologise to Souness but refused to do so and was subsequently excluded from first team training. The following week, he scored his first goal in a 5–0 win against Scottish First Division side Clyde in the Scottish Cup. Bellamy's last game of his loan spell was the 2005 Scottish Cup Final, in which he secured the first major trophy of his career after Celtic defeated Dundee United 1–0 at Hampden Park. Bellamy finished the season having scored 19 goals altogether for Newcastle and Celtic. Celtic, however, were unable to meet Newcastle's valuation of Bellamy or his wage demands.

With Newcastle seeking to sell, Bellamy attracted interest from numerous clubs, including Aston Villa, Fiorentina and Benfica, before agreeing terms with Everton following discussions with manager David Moyes. Bellamy, however, backed out of the transfer after his final meeting with Moyes, describing him as "tense and hostile". He instead signed for Blackburn Rovers, managed by his former Wales coach Mark Hughes, for an undisclosed fee. Bellamy described the presence of Hughes and Wales teammate Robbie Savage as a major factor in his decision to join the side. He made his debut on the opening day of the 2005–06 season in a 3–1 defeat to West Ham United but picked up a thigh strain that ruled him out for several weeks. Although his early months at the club were disrupted with injury, featuring in only 13 matches by the end of December, he scored 17 goals for Rovers in 2005–06 in all competitions, including a career high top tier total of 11 in 20 appearances, in a successful but injury tempered season. and Hughes discussed plans with Bellamy to appoint him team captain for the following season. Bellamy has credited Hughes with "restoring his career" during his time at Blackburn. Blackburn had previously opened discussions about paying £2 million to remove the clause with Bellamy but negotiations had not been completed when Liverpool made their bid. Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez had identified Bellamy as a replacement for Djibril Cissé, who had suffered a broken leg during an international fixture. Bellamy made a goalscoring debut for Liverpool against Maccabi Haifa in the first leg of the Champions League third qualifying round on 9 August 2006, in a 2–1 victory. He went on to set up the winning goal for Peter Crouch in the 81st minute of the 2006 FA Community Shield with a cross from the left hand corner of the box. His first months at the club were overshadowed by an impending court case over an alleged assault of two women in a Cardiff nightclub in February 2006. The case reached court in November but was dismissed by the judge; the defence stated that the prosecution's evidence "was a shambles". In his first appearance following the court case, Bellamy scored two goals during a 4–0 victory over Wigan Athletic on 2 December 2006. He continued his good form throughout the month, scoring two weeks later against Charlton Athletic and soon after against Watford. The pair had argued in a bar on the final night before Riise had returned to his hotel room. Bellamy, fuelled by alcohol, remained irate and went to Riise's hotel room with a golf club. Finding the room unlocked, Bellamy entered to find his teammate asleep. Bellamy later stated, "I just whacked him across the buttocks with the club. You couldn't really call it a swing. It was just a thwack really." Riise refuted Bellamy's description in his own autobiography and said the incident was much more violent and that Bellamy took several forceful swings with the club at him before leaving. Bellamy apologised to Riise the next morning. He was fined two weeks wages by the club. In the first match following the incident, a Champions League last 16 round match against Barcelona, Bellamy celebrated his goal that tied the score at 1–1 by emulating a golf stroke. Although Liverpool had a disappointing finish in the Premier League, they reached the final of the Champions League where they lost 2–1 to A. C. Milan with Bellamy an unused substitute. He expressed frustration over Benitez's decision to use his final substitute in the match to make a defensive change despite trailing 2–0. During the plane flight home, Benitez informed Bellamy the club were planning to sign a new forward at the end of the season and that he was free to move on.

Everton and Aston Villa again enquired about Bellamy; Sam Allardyce, who was manager of Newcastle, was rejected over a suggested swap deal involving Michael Owen. Bellamy instead moved to West Ham United on 10 July 2007 for a fee of £7.5 million, signing a five year contract as the club brought in several new players including Kieron Dyer and Scott Parker under new chairman Eggert Magnússon. The fee paid for Bellamy was a club record at the time. He made his West Ham debut in an opening day 2–0 home defeat by Manchester City on 11 August. His first two goals for the club were scored in a 2–1 League Cup victory against Bristol Rovers two weeks later. Bellamy and his wife saw the birth of their third child during his early period at West Ham. He later described how being away from the family home in Cardiff for extended periods caused him to suffer from homesickness for the first time since he was a youth player. He also began suffering from arthritis that required surgery; he made a brief return in October, playing two matches for Wales and one for West Ham. The injury, however, continued causing problems and after playing in a 1–0 defeat to Wigan in February, he was ruled out for the remainder of the season. Bellamy spent mid 2008 in the Algarve training with a physiotherapist to regain fitness. A hamstring injury sustained in a pre season fixture against Ipswich Town disrupted Bellamy's start to the new season; he returned to action for West Ham in the third game of the 2008–09 season, scoring the third goal in a 4–1 win over Blackburn Rovers. Early in the season, manager Alan Curbishley was replaced by Gianfranco Zola but the club struggled for results. Two offers from Manchester City were rejected but on 18 January 2009, West Ham accepted from a third undisclosed bid from City, said to be around £14 million. Bellamy later said Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp informed him that, despite having no interest in the player, Manchester City had threatened to sign Redknapp's transfer target Wilson Palacios as retaliation for Tottenham signing Bellamy. Bellamy grew frustrated with the prolonged transfer negotiations and told staff at West Ham he wanted to remain and sign a new deal with the club. West Ham, however, continued with the move and accepted Manchester City's bid. Hughes stated, "I'm sure Craig will be excellent for us, I think people will soon see why I wanted to bring him to the club". This took his career total transfer fees to £47m. Bellamy arrived as part of Manchester City's increased spending following the investment of the Abu Dhabi United Group; Wayne Bridge, Nigel de Jong and Shay Given also arrived within a week. Bellamy marked his debut for Manchester City on 28 January by scoring the winning goal in a 2–1 win against Newcastle United at the City of Manchester Stadium. He scored again against Middlesbrough in the Premier League in a 1–0 win for City; it was his third appearance before scoring twice against FC Copenhagen in the UEFA Cup two weeks later. He argued with the group on more than one occasion and accused them of lacking effort following a 2–0 defeat against Portsmouth on 14 February 2009. Bellamy made only four further appearances during the season after suffering a knee injury against West Ham on 1 March. A week later, he scored two goals against Manchester United in a 4–3 defeat. His first goal was a strike from the edge of the box which was later named Goal of the Month for September 2009. After the match, a fan invaded the pitch but was escorted from the field; Bellamy and the fan exchanged words, prompting the player to shove him in the face. Bellamy received no contact from the FA over the incident and Manchester City stated they would not discipline Bellamy, instead offering their support to him. After a run of seven consecutive draws in the Premier League, during the last of which Bellamy was sent off for two bookable offences, Hughes was sacked as manager and replaced by Roberto Mancini. Despite this, Bellamy remained a regular in the first team for the rest of the season, finishing the campaign with 11 goals in 40 appearances. On 11 August 2010, he was left out of his club's 23 man Europa League squad to face Timișoara. The next week, Bellamy was allowed to train with Cardiff City, fuelling speculation he might sign for his hometown club. When asked about such a move, Bellamy said he would "love to play for Cardiff".

On 17 August 2010, Bellamy signed for Cardiff City on a season long loan from Manchester City. Cardiff manager Dave Jones confirmed Bellamy would become team captain for the season with former captain Mark Hudson named club captain. Manchester City had been wary of selling Bellamy to a potential divisional rival and had suggested the idea of a move to Cardiff, paying a large percentage of his wages to make the move. He made his debut for Cardiff on 21 August in a 4–0 win over Doncaster Rovers, in which he scored from a free kick. After playing the subsequent game against Portsmouth, Bellamy missed the next five games due to a buildup of fluid on his knee that required rest. He returned and scored in a 2–1 win against Barnsley on 2 October. Bellamy hoped to avoid further injury problems and hired Raymond Verheijen, his former fitness coach at Manchester City, to work with him during the season and paid Verheijen's wages himself. Cardiff were challenging Norwich City for the second automatic promotion place in the final stages of the season when Norwich were due to meet Derby County. Before the match, Bellamy telephoned his former Norwich and international teammate Robbie Savage who played for Derby, and offered the players £30,000 if they won the match. Norwich, however, won 3–2 following a late injury time goal. A defeat to Middlesbrough the following week confirmed a playoff place for Cardiff and Bellamy scored his last goal of the season with a volley in the 90th minute to draw away at Turf Moor against Burnley. In the play offs, he suffered a hamstring injury in the opening 20 minutes of the first leg away to Reading, forcing him out of the game. Cardiff drew the match but were defeated 3–0 in the second leg with Bellamy absent. Bellamy stated that he would like to stay with Cardiff beyond his loan spell to achieve his dream of them one day playing in the Premier League. After Cardiff manager Dave Jones' sacking, Bellamy became a surprise favourite to succeed him. Instead, his former Norwich teammate Malky Mackay was appointed and did not confirm whether he would attempt to sign Bellamy. Bellamy asked Manchester City to release him on a free transfer after they priced him at £4,000,000.

Bellamy returned to Manchester City for pre season training but was placed in the club's reserves and was excluded from the first team. He eventually reached a settlement with the club to cancel the final year of his contract, allowing him to leave. He received offers from Queens Park Rangers and Stoke City but rejected both when Liverpool and Tottenham showed an interest in him. Bellamy chose to return to Liverpool, swayed by Kenny Dalglish's presence as manager. The following day, Cardiff City said they had failed in a last minute bid for Bellamy. Bellamy said, "I've grown up with Kenny Dalglish, now to be signed by him is a massive honour. It's been a long couple of months, I had to be patient and believe something like this could happen." Bellamy's returning debut for Liverpool came against Stoke City in a 1–0 defeat at the Britannia Stadium. He scored his first post return goal for Liverpool against Brighton & Hove Albion in the League Cup on 21 September, while his first league goal of his second spell came a month later against Norwich City in a 1–1 draw. Two days later, Bellamy returned to the team and recorded assists for both Liverpool goals in a 2–0 win over Chelsea in the League Cup quarter final, describing it as "one of the best games I ever played". Speed's death prompted Bellamy to visit Steve Rogers, a psychologist, after fearing his own personal issues could leave him in a similar position. Featuring largely as a squad player, Bellamy made regular appearances as a substitute but enjoyed a prolonged run in the first team during the Christmas period after Luis Suárez was banned for racially abusing an opponent. On 25 January 2012, Bellamy scored the equalising goal against Manchester City to give Liverpool a 3–2 win on aggregate in the League Cup semi final. In the final on 26 February, Liverpool met Cardiff City; Bellamy featured as a second half substitute in place of Jordan Henderson but he did not take a penalty in the ensuing shootout after asking to be omitted from the five nominated takers. Bellamy also played a pivotal role in the club's run to the FA Cup final, providing the assist for Andy Carroll to score the winning goal as Liverpool beat local rivals Everton 2–1 at Wembley to reach their first FA Cup final in six years. He started in the final against Chelsea, which Liverpool lost 2–1.

The death of Speed and the breakup of Bellamy's marriage prompted him to return to Cardiff to be closer to his children, despite new Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers offering him the chance to stay. Talks over a possible transfer began and on 10 August 2012, Bellamy completed his free transfer to Cardiff City on a two year deal. He made the first appearance of his second spell a week later in a 1–0 win against Huddersfield Town. After one further appearance, he requested time off to deal with personal and injury issues and did not return to the first team until mid September. On his return, Bellamy scored with a free kick against Leeds United; Cardiff won the game 2–1. Bellamy was injured during a league match against Watford in October; damage to his ankle ligaments ruled him out for nearly a month. Bellamy broke down in delight on the pitch at the end of the game, having achieved what he called "an impossible dream". Bellamy's first goal of the 2013–14 Premier League season on 1 February 2014 was his side's opener in a 2–1 victory over Norwich City. The goal meant Bellamy became the first player to score for seven different clubs in the Premier League. He played 22 league games during the season but did not score another goal. Bellamy retired from football on 22 May 2014, saying: <blockquote>I guess over the years I've become accustomed to the pain from various injuries, but for the last three to four years I've been on anti inflammatories every day. I'm not sure my body will think that's a wise thing in due course, but it kept me playing for that period. However, the time has come to stand aside and say enough. My body can't take anymore. He progressed through the under 17 and under 18 levels before manager Tom Walley called him up to the under 21 side for the first time at the age of 16. He made his debut as a substitute in a match against San Marino, becoming the youngest player to represent the side. Bellamy, however, began to regard the under 21 side as setting him back in his career as he was often relegated to the bench at Norwich after spending up to ten days at a time away on international duty. This led to him asking officials at Norwich to claim he was injured, sparing him from being named in the side. Bellamy made his international debut on 25 March 1998 at the age of 18 as a substitute in place of Gareth Taylor in a friendly game against Jamaica at Ninian Park. At the end of the 1997–98 season, Bellamy was included in a squad for friendlies against Malta and Tunisia, scoring his first international goal during a 3–0 victory against the former on 3 June 1998. A defeat to Tunisia resulted in a confrontation between Gould and the squad over the standard of the team. After a brief return to the under 21 side, Gould was sacked after a 4–0 defeat to Italy in June 1999. When Mark Hughes was appointed as Wales' manager, Bellamy was suffering from injury and missed the first match to be played at the Millennium Stadium, although he was included in the training squad. He returned at the end of the 1999–2000 season, playing in friendlies against Brazil and Portugal. Under Hughes, Wales' form improved significantly and the side enjoyed a strong qualifying campaign for UEFA Euro 2004. In their opening match, Wales defeated Finland before facing Italy on 16 October 2002. Wales took an early lead through Simon Davies before Alessandro Del Piero levelled after 30 minutes with a deflected free kick. In the 70th minute, Hartson received the ball and played in Bellamy, who rounded Gianluigi Buffon to score Wales' winning goal. Consecutive victories over Azerbaijan put Wales into a strong position in the group but they failed to win any of last four matches, losing to Serbia and Montenegro (twice) and Italy, and drawing with Finland. Bellamy became involved in a row with his club side Newcastle over his participation after he postponed a knee operation to play in the qualifiers. Wales finished second in the group, four points behind winners Italy, reaching a two legged playoff match against Russia for a place at the finals. Bellamy missed both legs due to his knee injury that had plagued him prior to the matches and Wales lost 1–0 on aggregate. In October 2006, Toshack awarded Bellamy the captain's armband when Ryan Giggs was unavailable for a Euro 2008 qualifying match against Slovakia on 7 October 2006. The match ended in a 5–1 defeat at home to the Slovaks. Four days later, in a match against Cyprus—Bellamy's second as captain—he scored the third goal for Wales in a 3–1 win after setting up Robert Earnshaw for his side's second. Toshack praised Bellamy following the victory, stating, "Craig has been excellent. He has grown into the job since he has been with us, he has understood the extra responsibilities and it showed on the pitch." When Giggs returned to the Wales squad in November 2006, Bellamy was relieved of the captaincy but was named vice captain. In June 2007, Giggs announced his retirement from international football and Toshack named Bellamy as permanent captain. Further injury problems restricted Bellamy's appearances for Wales; he missed nearly eight months between October 2007 and May 2008. He returned to win his 50th international cap in a friendly against Iceland on 29 May. In October 2010, a 'club v country' row emerged as Bellamy played a full match for Cardiff City despite his manager Dave Jones claiming Bellamy was too injured to play for Wales. Toshack resigned in September 2010 and Bellamy later criticised his former manager, stating; "The height of Toshack's ambitions appeared to be making sure we didn't get too heavily beaten rather than actually trying to win games. We didn't even try and compete and I found that hard." In December 2010, Gary Speed, Bellamy's former team mate at both Newcastle and Wales, was appointed manager of Wales. Bellamy was planning to retire from international football due to continuing knee problems and to stand aside for a younger generation of players. He met with Speed in Cardiff to discuss his future. Speed persuaded Bellamy to prolong his international career but Bellamy decided to step down as captain because his fitness levels meant he was unlikely to play every match. Speed sought Bellamy's opinion on his replacement as captain; the pair agreed on Aaron Ramsey, who was appointed soon after. Raymond Verheijen and Damian Roden, fitness coaches with whom Bellamy had previously worked, were also hired on his recommendation. Although Wales endured a disappointing start to the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying campaign, Bellamy was encouraged by the progress being made under Speed's management, including victories over Switzerland and Norway. Bellamy continued with Wales for a further 18 months under new manager Chris Coleman before announcing his retirement from international football after Wales' final 2014 World Cup qualifiers in October 2013. His final match for Wales on 15 October 2013 against Belgium ended as a 1–1 draw. Bellamy ended his international career with 78 caps and 19 goals.

In June 2012, Bellamy was confirmed as one of the three over aged players selected by manager Stuart Pearce for Great Britain to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics alongside Micah Richards and Giggs. After a warm up match against Brazil, on 26 July Bellamy scored Great Britain's first goal at an Olympic Games since 1960 in a 1–1 draw with Senegal. Bellamy and his other Welsh teammates were criticised for not singing the British national anthem God Save the Queen during the pre match ceremonies. He later stated; "I wasn't going to sing the national anthem and nor was any other Welsh player. It's not our anthem. I sing one anthem and that's that. That's my country's anthem. I'm not being anti English or anti British  you have to remember that we took some stick in Wales just for playing for Team GB." Bellamy assisted Giggs to score the opening goal of a 3–1 victory over the United Arab Emirates in the team's following fixture. He was named Great Britain's captain for the final group game, from which Giggs was absent. The result allowed Great Britain to progress to a quarter final with South Korea. Bellamy was substituted minutes before the end of normal time. The game went to extra time and penalties; Great Britain were eliminated after losing the shootout 5–4. He began his career as a central midfielder, but was moved further forward during his time with Norwich and featured in several attacking roles, playing as both a winger and a centre forward for the remainder of his career. He preferred playing a counter attacking style of football as his pace often allowed him to exploit space behind the defenders as the opposition team pressed forward. As Premier League managers shifted toward favouring strikers with a more physical presence, Bellamy adapted to a wider role, studying leading wingers such as Franck Ribéry to improve his game. His former Wales, Blackburn and Manchester City manager Mark Hughes said he loved having Bellamy on his teams because of "the intensity he brings" and "his desire to affect the game every single time he plays". Hughes acknowledged that Bellamy developed a reputation as being sometimes difficult to work with but stated, "If you understand him and support him, he will play his heart out for you". His best tally in a single season in the Premier League was 17 goals during his spell with Blackburn in 2005–06 although his goalscoring record was questioned by his former Newcastle manager Graeme Souness during his time with the club. In his autobiography, former Wales manager John Toshack described a fractious relationship with Bellamy, saying, "he could cause problems where they weren't necessary and you always felt there was a possibility that he could upset the applecart". Bellamy's career was severely hampered by persistent injuries that restricted both the amount of time he could train and the number of matches he could play in close proximity. Gianfranco Zola, who managed Bellamy at West Ham, stated, "Injuries have been the downside of his career  The fragility he has got in the muscles has stopped him from being a higher player". In the latter stages of his career, as his pace diminished, he received praise from Paul Abbandonato of WalesOnline for possessing "leadership, drive, energy, work rate and standards of excellence" during his last playing season.

Bellamy returned to Cardiff as an academy coach on a voluntary basis. In 2016, he was appointed Cardiff's player development manager, overseeing all age groups at the club's youth academy and coaching the older age group teams. Having earlier been interviewed for the post of Wales manager, he was given permission to apply for the vacant managerial position at EFL League One club Oxford United in February 2018. Bellamy agreed terms with Oxford but later withdrew his application after the club was taken over during the negotiations. He stepped down from his coaching role at Cardiff in January 2019 to defend himself against a claim of bullying a youth team player. An internal investigation by the club later resulted in Bellamy issuing an apology over an "unacceptable coaching environment", although he was subject to no formal disciplinary action. In June 2019, Bellamy signed a three year contract to become the under 21 team coach for Belgian side Anderlecht following the appointment of his former Manchester City teammate Vincent Kompany as manager. He later worked as an assistant to Kompany before stepping down from the role in September 2021 citing mental health issues. In July 2022, he rejoined Vincent Kompany and was named a first team coach at Burnley.

Bellamy has described himself as a "keen" supporter of both Liverpool and Cardiff City. Bellamy met Claire Jansen in Cardiff while they were teenagers. They remained together despite Bellamy spending most of his time away from the city during his apprenticeship with Norwich City; Claire remained in Cardiff working in a local newsagent. Their second child, Cameron, was born in January 2001 and their third, Lexi, in 2007. Bellamy proposed to Jansen on 13 July 2005 at The Lowry Hotel in Manchester, With Bellamy moving clubs on a regular basis, the family bought a permanent home in Peterston super Ely; Bellamy lived near his club and travelled home when possible. In his autobiography, Bellamy stated the couple split after "she decided she'd had enough. Enough of the moving and the following me round. Enough of the absentee husband. Enough of the selfishness and the black moods and the times when I wouldn't talk to her because I was worried about a knee injury." In 2013, Bellamy released his autobiography entitled GoodFella which was ghostwritten by journalist Oliver Holt. In the book, Bellamy said he suffered severe bouts of depression, particularly when he was unable to play football for long periods due to injury. He wrote, "There would be weeks, sometimes months, when I couldn't get myself out of it". These periods often coincided with periods of binge drinking; after Cardiff's defeat to Reading in the playoff semi final, Bellamy went on a "two day drinking binge". In 2013, he failed to declare himself as the driver of a car that was caught by a speed camera and received a driving ban. In March 2019, he was banned from driving again for 18 months after being found to be over the permitted alcohol limit while driving in Cardiff earlier that month. Bellamy is an advocate of mixed martial arts and has sponsored some of the fighters who train at Tillery Combat, a gym in Abertillery, Wales, providing them with supplements, kit and management advice through his company Shin2Chin. He also owns Cardiff Combat MMA gym.

In 2007, Bellamy visited Sierra Leone. The country was still suffering from the effects of a long civil war that ended five years previously. Bellamy was mobbed by fans and was unable to freely walk the streets without an armed police escort as crowds blocked roads trying to see him. He visited the country's diamond mining industry and was shocked at the poor living conditions of the workers, often children. He decided to set up a charity in the country and, on 6 May 2008, plans for The Craig Bellamy Foundation were announced in Sierra Leone. Bellamy spent £1.4m of his own money to build a not for profit football academy in the Western Area Rural District village Tombo, where 32 boys received an international standard education and elite level football coaching at no cost to themselves. The first 15 children were enrolled at the academy in August 2010. The league also funded the school fees of participating children and employed 175 Sierra Leonian team coaches, regional managers and league coordinators. In 2009, 1,600 boys aged between 11 and 14 played or trained in the league on a daily basis. Bellamy is also a supporter of Noah's Ark Children's Hospital for Wales, part of the University of Wales Hospital, where both he and his three children were born. In 2010, he became a charity champion for Noah's Ark, a charity that was aiming to raise £7 million to complete a construction project at the site.