A number of writers, pundits and former professionals questioned whether one of England's most gifted footballers might prove detrimental to the squad's harmony.
A number of writers, pundits and former professionals questioned whether one of England's most gifted footballers might prove detrimental to the squad's harmony.
The clearest expression of these arguments appeared in a Daily Mail article in November 2025 beneath one of the most ignominious headlines in English footballing history: "Leave Jude at home." Amid a wave...
Once clipped, his remarks spread rapidly across football's social media ecosystem and beyond, both because of Wright's candour, and for placing the hostility directed at Bellingham within a historical...
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A number of writers, pundits and former professionals questioned whether one of England's most gifted footballers might prove detrimental to the squad's harmony. The clearest expression of these arguments appeared in a Daily Mail article in November 2025 beneath one of the most ignominious headlines in English footballing history: "Leave Jude at home." Amid a wave of criticism directed at Bellingham, Ian Wright felt compelled to defend him on an episode of Stick to Football. Once clipped, his remarks spread rapidly across football's social media ecosystem and beyond, both because of Wright's candour, and for placing the hostility directed at Bellingham within a historical tradition of policing Black men's behaviour.
Once clipped, his remarks spread rapidly across football's social media ecosystem and beyond, both because of Wright's candour, and for placing the hostility directed at Bellingham within a historical tradition of policing Black men's behaviour.
The clearest expression of these arguments appeared in a Daily Mail article in November 2025 beneath one of the most ignominious headlines in English footballing history: "Leave Jude at home." Amid a wave of criticism directed at Bellingham, Ian Wright felt compelled to defend him on an episode of Stick to Football. "Someone like Jude, for some reason, frightens these people," Wright said, before adding: "It's something you're taught as a Black man … to keep your head down and be, for want of a better word, a humble fucking slave." Calum Jacobs is the author of A New Formation:
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