FANS OF THE Premier League will know Welsh striker Craig Bellamy as a snarling, aggressive but talented footballer who has fallen out with his fair share of managers and team-mates in the past.
Down the years, we read how he and Alan Shearer became involved in a war-of-words after he sent the Newcastle United skipper insulting text messages, while there was also the infamous ‘golf club’ incident with John Arne Riise during his first spell at Liverpool back in 2007.
However, a documentary set to be aired tonight will show another side to Craig Bellamy the person as it shadows the 32-year-old during a visit to Sierra Leone, where he funds a charity aiming to give underprivileged children in the West African country a fair shot at life.
I don’t do this for people to have a different opinion of me,” Bellamy said in The Daily Mail. “That’s not too important to me.”
The Craig Bellamy Foundation was founded with the support of UNICEF in 2009 and offers scholarships to educate and hone the talents of young footballers at his academy in the Kono region. To date, he has put somewhere in the region of €1.5m of his own money into the non-profit project.
“The kids weren’t playing with footballs, they had rolled up socks or oranges, but their love for the game is what we had 20, 30 years ago,” he recalls his first visit.
“With computers, cars, very rarely do you see kids on the street here any more. Sierra Leone just brought that back and made me think, ‘I’d like to do something’.
“That I’ve been able to help people in a worse situation gives me more satisfaction that anything football’s been able to give me. Whether I go on to achieve something in football, or not, I can go back to see Sierra Leone and see what I’ve been able to help.”
Craig Bellamy’s African Dream will be aired on ITV4 at 9pm tonight
YouTube credit: LiverpoolFC
