There is an old photo that Mark Bellingham treasures: he, a police officer and unstoppable goalscorer on England’s amateur pitches, holds his son Jude in his arms.
Years later, the two posed for a camera again. There is no longer a baby in his arms: there is a fully grown man, one of the biggest stars in world football, standing beside the same father who carried him when he weighed nothing. The same smile, the same pride, except now it shows on both of them. 🥹⚽