TOM COLLOMOSSE: Inside the rise of Birmingham boys Jack Grealish and Jude Bellingham

One of them improved his skills by playing Gaelic football. The other showed up in school uniform for first-team practices and matches.

Birmingham boys Jack Grealish and Jude Bellingham have taken different routes to stardom, but are £100 million players at the top of their game.

Grealish won the Treble with Manchester City and partied like his life depended on it. While Grealish pottered about in an open-top bus, Bellingham was busy signing for the world’s most famous club.

Less than four years after making his professional debut for Birmingham – in a League Cup match at Portsmouth in August 2019 – Bellingham joined Real Madrid in a deal that could be worth £113 million.

Those who mocked Blues for retiring his number 22 shirt after just one season of senior football are now laughing no more. The mural on Cattell Road, a stone’s throw from St Andrew’s, shows Bellingham next to Trevor Francis, the first £1m player in British football history.

Jude Bellingham’s £113 million transfer to Real Madrid is the culmination of a stellar teenage career

Both historic players were born and raised in Birmingham and there are many similarities

“I remember seeing Jude in the younger teams at Birmingham and I immediately thought he could train with the first team,” former Blues boss Pep Clotet – who gave Bellingham his senior debut – told Mail Sport in an interview in 2021. ‘As soon as I got the job, I persuaded him.

“I said then that he was one of the most complete footballers I had ever seen. When I said it, I wondered if I had gone too far. Now I think I may not have gone far enough!’

While Grealish’s talent shone just as brightly, it took him a bit longer to reach the top. The 27-year-old had a loan spell in League One with Notts County at the age of 18 and only established himself as a Premier League player in 2019-20, when he brought Villa to safety.

While his performances that season – eight goals and six assists in a struggling side – may have taken the wider footballing public by surprise, they were exactly what the coaches at Grealish’s John Mitchels GAA club in Solihull, seven miles outside of Birmingham, had expected. noticed when he played. Gaelic football as a teenager.

“He was very brave, very strong on the ball, not afraid to take responsibility,” club secretary JP Walsh told Mail Sport in 2020. sure point as Villa wanted to sign him.

“Jack was fantastic at soloing (the equivalent of dribbling). People are still talking about a goal he scored as he ran across the pitch.’

Coach Kevin McGinnity added: “Usually you put your best players in center forward or in midfield, and Jack starts in midfield, but he gets everywhere.

“When I saw him for Villa it was identical to how he was in our Under-13 team. He held the ball brilliantly and was the foulest player. He was smart, quick, always thinking – and a nice guy at that.’

JP Walsh watched Grealish play Gaelic football which further aided his youth development

Bellingham comes from a very close-knit family, all of whom were present at his unveiling

Grealish’s family has strong ties to John Mitchels and like his English colleague, Bellingham has a close support network.

Father Mark, who manages his son’s career, scored over 700 goals for various non-league sides while working as a police officer and the family are Birmingham supporters.

Mother Denise lived with Jude for quite some time during his stay at Dortmund, while Jude’s younger brother – attacking midfielder Jobe – has joined Sunderland for £3 million.

During his season with Birmingham, Bellingham had not turned professional and was earning just £145 a week.

Praised for his confident demeanor in his first appearance as a Madrid player, he owes much to his education at Priory School in Edgbaston, in the heart of Birmingham. Combining his studies with football had no effect on Bellingham, who immediately impressed experienced colleagues.

“He was the best player in training every day,” defender Harlee Dean recalled. “I’ve never seen anyone like Jude.

He was a lot better.

His brother Jobe (right) is the latest family member to sign an impressive deal, joining Sunderland in June aged 17.

“You have young players coming to train with the first team and you think ‘oh he’s good’ but then they’re missing something – but Jude had it all. That’s a top player and he deserves everything he gets.’

The delight of Grealish and Bellingham is their contrasting approach. It’s hard to imagine the teenage Grealish thinking too much about rest and recovery.

Bellingham was a different beast. In a diary for the school’s website, written when he was 13, Bellingham described his under-15 England affiliation.

“I was glad to have snuggled up nice and warm at the end of it, when I realized the importance of a good night’s sleep I sank,” he wrote. “I couldn’t have wished for a better first day.”

It seemed like a piece of cake from there, all the way to the Bernabeu. There were a few more bumps in the road for Grealish, but Birmingham should be hugely proud of them both.