'Every year Jude Bellingham invites me to Madrid': Portsmouth newcomer on friendship and Fratton Park fate
The duo played in the same Birmingham first-team together after graduating from Academy football - and remain firm friends
They remain in touch, a close friendship honed in Birmingham City’s Academy and a shared in a landmark Fratton Park occasion.
Football - and distance - gets in the way, of course. While Odin Bailey visited Jude Bellingham’s Madrid home in 2024, further generous invites have still to be accepted.
After all, successive League One play-off campaigns with Stockport have taken precedence for Bailey during the subsequent two summers. Incidentally, Bellingham himself was recently busy with England World Cup duty.
Still, when John Mousinho’s first signing of the summer was announced at the start of this month, his old friend from Birmingham was among those who liked the Instagram post.
As teenagers, they made their debuts in the same Carabao Cup game against Pompey in August 2019. Despite highly-contrasting career paths ever since, the friendship retains its strength.
‘It was unreal to see the life he has created for himself’
Bailey told The News: ‘I’m one of Jude’s good friends - and I am pretty sure he would say the same thing about me!
‘We speak every now and then, but he obviously has a very busy life, so I don’t try to encroach too much. Every year he invites me to go over to Madrid and watch a game, but the last two years I haven’t been able to go just because we (Stockport) were in the play-offs and it has always clashed.
‘The year before (2024), I went over to Madrid, and spent a bit of time at his house with his family. It was unreal to see the life he has created for himself - and it can only give me motivation as well.
‘Jude played up with my age group at Birmingham from fairly young, we played in loads of under-21s games together and he was someone you could see had ability. But it doesn’t matter how much ability you've got, the biggest thing to get there is mental strength - and Jude’s had that from a very early age.
‘I would describe him as a very early bloomer. From a young age he was very assured in who he was as a person, as a player, and that was reflected on the pitch. You could see him playing with an immense amount of confidence when he was young.
‘I know you can get stick from people, calling you arrogant, but it’s the furthest thing from arrogance. It’s confidence, it’s belief in your own ability, and that is what you need to get to the very top.
‘You always knew he was going to play at the top. Would I have said he would go on play for Real Madrid and be carrying England in the World Cup? Probably not. But that’s credit to his mindset.
‘Jude was a small number 10 who transitioned and developed - now he’s a complete midfielder who can do everything. He was quite small, but technically unbelievable. One pre-season tour in Portugal he had a room to himself because he was too young to share!
‘Then he hit 17-18 and started to grow in size. The difference between him being a Premier League player compared to one of the best in the world is all in his mindset and determination.
‘It’s great to see him do what he’s doing.’
While new signing Ellis Harrison scored twice on his Pompey debut in that 3-0 success over Pep Clotet’s side, the first-round fixture would mark a club record for Birmingham.
Aged 16 years and 38 days, Bellingham became the visitors’ youngest-ever player, a feat which had dominated St Andrew’s talk heading into the evening Carabao Cup clash.
As for Bailey, who was older than Bellingham, aged 19-and-a-half years at the time, and was introduced off the bench in the 55th minute for his own landmark moment.
Now, seven years later, he has taken up permanent residency at Fratton Park following his summer switch from Stockport on a free transfer.
‘My debut was nerves and adrenaline’
He added: ‘Fratton Park was a special day for both of us, that’s obviously a massive memory we share together and it has always stayed with me, the feeling of me coming on at Fratton.
‘I don’t remember too much about my debut, it was nerves and adrenaline. The only real memory is having a shot which just went over the bar, that's about it. I was really nervous and trying to make a good account of myself.
‘So for me to come back seven years later is a proud moment for me and my family, a real 360 moment. Everything happens for a reason and I feel I’m in the right position and meant to be here at this moment in time.’
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