Mark Bellingham, the father of Jude and Jobe, has seen some of his behaviour branded “an absolute joke” by England legend Sir Geoff Hurst. Bellingham senior has been billed as “the most powerful man in English football”, given the prominence of his two sons, but has also generated lively debate with his antics behind the scenes – with officials at Borussia Dortmund being confronted at one stage after Jobe was substituted at half-time.
GettyBellingham incident: Dortmund staff confronted
The incident occurred during the 2025-26 Bundesliga season opener between Dortmund and St Pauli. Jobe Bellingham was making his German top-flight bow in that contest, having completed a £33 million ($44m) transfer from Sunderland over the summer. Things did not go entirely to plan for the 20-year-old midfielder, with the decision being taken to hook him at the interval.
That call did not go down well with Mark, who was in the crowd to watch his son in action, who made a march towards the dressing room. Questions were asked of high-ranking personnel at Dortmund, without getting to head coach Niko Kovac, leading BVB to ban friends and family from being granted access to the tunnel area during a game.
AdvertisementHurst's take on unfortunate behaviour
Hurst is a big fan of the Bellinghams – particularly Real Madrid ‘Galactico’ Jude – but is less than impressed to discover that their father wants to be so hands-on. The 1966 World Cup winner said at an event in Bristol, as reported by : “A thing that’s irritated me is a picture in one of the papers about the most powerful man in English football – and it’s Jude Bellingham’s father. He was complaining when his son was taken off in a game – and that is an absolute joke. If you don’t eradicate that kind of thing, that is an absolute disgrace.”
Right man for England? Tuchel questioned
Jobe Bellingham has found starting berths at Dortmund hard to come by since then, while Jude – who underwent shoulder surgery over the summer – was left out of the latest England squad as he works on recovering full match fitness.
Hurst is among those hoping to see the Three Lions break a 60-year wait for major honours in 2026 and emulate the achievements of his class of '66. England’s hat-trick hero from that memorable day at Wembley is, however, not convinced that the managerial reins should have been handed to ex-Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain boss Thomas Tuchel.
He said: “Overall, you have to strongly argue the managers who have had the best results for our national side have been English, starting with Sir Alf Ramsey. And I must admit I generally prefer to have, as many other countries do, a national manager who shares the same nationality as the players.
“But, unfortunately, we haven’t had that many to pick from who are operating at the highest level in the Prem, because there are so many foreign managers now. And not many English managers in the Premier League have been that successful over the years.
“It’s very simple when it comes to management – if Tuchel does well next summer and we do well in the World Cup, he will have done a fantastic job. But if we get knocked out in the first round, he’ll have been an absolute waste of time.”
Getty ImagesWorld Cup glory bid: England out to end 60 years of pain
Ex-West Ham striker Hurst went on to say: “Thomas Tuchel appears to have all the credentials to be a successful England manager but it just comes down to results. We’d all be absolutely thrilled to bits whichever nationality our manager is if we win the World Cup again – it’s long overdue. But I think it’s going to be tough. I don’t think he started that well and a couple of our friendlies were very poor. And it does take a while for the manager to get to know the good players, the bad players and to see which are good team players.
“It took Alf Ramsey three years prior to the World Cup for him to collect a group of players with the right characters. The England game against Serbia was much better – a fantastic 5-0 win away from home.
“Managers get criticised at national level just like they do at club level. That comes with the territory. But I’m not a negative person. I’m always very hopeful that we’re going to do well – and I’m now as optimistic as ever. I’d still probably favour an English boss – but good luck to him.”
England, who sit top of their World Cup qualification group, will be back in action on Tuesday when taking in a trip to Latvia, where a victory will be enough to book their place at the tournament. Prior to that, the Young Lions will take on Andorra in a European U21 Championship qualifier on Monday, with Jobe Bellingham forming part of Lee Carsley’s plans.