Jude Bellingham received a hero’s welcome at St Andrew’s on Friday night as Birmingham City defeated Barcelona on penalties in a pre-season friendly, with fans chanting his name before a ball had been kicked.
Bellingham, who began his career at Birmingham before joining Borussia Dortmund in 2020 and then Real Madrid in 2023, took his seat to loud chants of “he’s one of our own” from the home supporters. Birmingham City’s official social media account posted a video of his arrival captioned “Jude. He’s home.”
The match itself ended 2-2 after normal time. August Priske Flyger and John Solis scored for Birmingham, while Hamza Abdelkarim netted twice for Barcelona.
Goalkeeper James Beadle was the decisive figure in the shootout, saving spot-kicks from Roony Bardghji and Brian Farinas. Jordi Pesquer also struck the crossbar, handing Birmingham a 3-2 win on penalties.
Bellingham, 23, has not yet returned to Real Madrid for pre-season under Jose Mourinho, still taking time off following England’s World Cup campaign.
By the end of the night, he had swapped his white t-shirt for his retired No22 Birmingham jersey. Birmingham officially retired that number when he left for Dortmund, making him the youngest player ever to have his shirt retired by a professional club.
Bellingham had made his senior debut for Birmingham in the 2019-20 season at 16 years and 36 days old, becoming the youngest first-team player in the club’s history. He went on to make 41 appearances before his £25 million move to Dortmund.
