Birmingham City have decided to retire Bellingham's shirt number

WeePat

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All I keep thinking about when watching that video is that the chair closest to the tv is in a really impractical position. They've not thought about the layout of their room at all.
Somehow that doesn't surprise me.
 

SportingCP96

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Just shows how minuscule of a club they are tbf.
 

Chipper

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Some interesting names in there and many posthumous decisions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_retired_numbers_in_association_football
Greek football team AEL retiring number 24 when retired basketball player Kobe Bryant died is an interesting decision to say the least. I know lots of Euro teams have a basketball team associated with the football club and it looks like they do as well although he never played for them, or in Greece at all for that matter and of course they're the football team, not the basketball one.

Actually seems crass to me, like they were trying to garner publicity out of his death unless there's some connection there that I haven't yet discovered.
 

Rolaholic

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Didn't know where else to post this since his transfer thread is closed so thought here would be fitting


Disgraceful stuff

Bellends racially abusing a player just because they didn't sign for us is as low as you can get and it reflects horribly on the fanbase unfortunately.

No place for that in the game and I don't want United fans to start developing the same reputation as the Chelsea fanbase
 

Black Rick

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I understand this tbh.

Give it 10 years and if Bellingham is a Ballon d'Or winner then it'll always be noted that Birmingham retired his shirt, resulting in people giving them disproportionate respect and credence for having been the club that discovered and developed him.

Retiring his shirt is an investment in creating extra history and notoriety for the club.
 
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I understand this tbh.

Give it 10 years and if Bellingham is a Ballon d'Or winner then it'll always be noted that Birmingham retired his shirt, resulting in people giving them disproportionate respect and credence for having been the club that discovered and developed him.

Retiring his shirt is an investment in creating extra history and notoriety for the club.

I assume you are taking the piss.

Mind you I assumed this whole retiring his shirt was a piss take.

Seriously.

Every Birmingham fan must be embarrassed, he himself must be embarrassed. What complete tool thought this up, and who on earth signed this off.
 

Brophs

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That's so cringe even Liverpool would be thinking "Bit much this, eh?"
 

RedDevil@84

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Must have had a glittering career at Birmingham. Maybe he will get a statue as well
 

RedCurry

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That’ll probably sell a few more shirts and get fans of top clubs take notice.
 

padr81

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I don't feel so bad about us naming a training pitch after Joe Hart now.
 

Snow

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I thought it was a joke when Malaga did something similar for Isco? Not sure if it was a retired number
To be fair Malága had a bellend of an owner who fecked over the club. What's Birmingham's excuse? Who am I kidding, it's the same reason. Football ownership is so shit.
 

Fridge chutney

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Maybe the 25M that Birmingham received for Bellingham saved the club from insolvency or something.
 

UnitedSofa

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Glad we didn’t cave to be honest, 56K seems a lot for a 17 year old.

Give him 30 now and then if he performs then increase the wages to 60k if he meets targets
 

SilentWitness

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Glad we didn’t cave to be honest, 56K seems a lot for a 17 year old.

Give him 30 now and then if he performs then increase the wages to 60k if he meets targets
The rise of McTominay and his wage increases shows that you would have done the same with Bellingham if he was on a similar trajectory too.

I don't blame him for choosing Dortmund though. He could and will most likely get a similar amount of games at them next season (Perhaps even more) and he'll instantly be on more money from the start. From memory they gave Sancho a big wage rise after his first season too so the same applies there in regards to a wage rise.
 

SadlerMUFC

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This is just silly. He's only played a handful of games for them. Wonder if they would do the same if he was #8 or #6? Probably not. But #22 isn't a popular midfield number...
 

alexthelion

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This post gives me the opportunity to say that Jackie Robinson has his number retired league wide but he was a very special player for the MLB. Not only he was an all time great but he was also the first black player in the modern era.
Wayne Gretzky's #99 retired by all teams in the NHL is another.
 

Fortitude

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Cringe... Like when Miami Heat in 2003 retired number 23, in honour of Jordan’s retirement, despite him never playing for them.... the hell is this?
Trevor Francis must be wondering what he could've done to get this honour.
Sign for Dortmund?
He's also on a mural outside St Andrews: https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sp...ude-bellingham-mural-birmingham-city-18645026

Had a glance at their fan forum and apparently a few wanted him to have a stand named after him.
They should, can I suggest naming it "The Bell End" ? Think it would be rather fitting for them
:lol: