England legend Hurst brands Bellingham’s dad an ‘absolute disgrace’ after challenging Dortmund boss
England legend Sir Geoff Hurst has slammed the behaviour of Mark Bellingham after he complained about his son, Jobe, being substituted for Borussia Dortmund.
Hurst scored a hat-trick as England won the 1966 World Cup final and the 83-year-old also had a successful club career with clubs like West Ham and Stoke City.
The experienced football legend had a word of warning for Bellingham senior after his outburst following a Bundesliga match earlier this season.
Bellingham confronted members of the Dortmund hierarchy after Jobe – who moved to the Bundesliga giants from Sunderland in the summer for £33m – was subsituted at half-time in a 3-3 draw against St Pauli, which they were leading 3-1.
Jobe’s dad waited to speak to Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl in the tunnel at full-time and reportedly demanded a meeting with head coach Niko Kovac.
And Hurst has now insisted that Bellingham senior needs to be less involved in his son’s careers as his actions after Dortmund’s draw in August were “an absolute disgrace”.
READ: England fans not behaving like insane headbangers is a plus, Tommy Tuchel
Hurst said at an event in Bristol: “A thing that has 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.”
Dortmund managing director Lars Ricken played down the indicent but insisted something like that will not be happening again in the future.
Ricken told Sky90 – The Football Debate: “We got Jobe Bellingham because we really built a relationship of trust with the parents over the years. Now the family flew in especially for their son’s first Bundesliga game and wanted to meet Jobe after the game.
“They stood in the hallway to the locker room and had an emotional conversation with Sebastian, which, however, is not a problem at all given this relationship.
“In the future though, we will ensure that players, coaches, and any officials have access to the locker room area, so that we no longer get into trouble by commenting on such news.
“But today everything has been resolved – no drama.”
MORE ENGLAND COVERAGE ON F365…
👉 England boss Tuchel backed for Man Utd job as Amorim ‘can’t get three years’ under Ratcliffe
👉 Thomas Tuchel ‘not enjoying England job’ as shock 2026 exit predicted
👉 Harry Kane is ‘not the fixtures secretary’ – is England star stat-padding or is he just good?
England legend Hurst also expressed his views on Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel and reckons he has “all the credentials” to be a success.
Hurst added: “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.
“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.
“He appears to have all the credentials to be a successful England manager but it just comes down to results.”
READ MORE: England ‘underdogs’ claim debunked as Thomas Tuchel gets ‘dangerous’
