An extract from Craig Bellamy's autobiography regularly goes viral on social media for claims about former Liverpool team-mate Charlie Adam - there's just one problem
14:40, 10 Dec 2024
Charlie Adam
Charlie Adam joined Liverpool in 2011(Image: Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
No. Charlie Adam was never nicknamed "Rab" by the Liverpool squad.
It was 2011, and with Liverpool cemented in their 'banter period', manager Kenny Dalglish splashed the cash on his 'Magnificent Seven'. Then Blackpool midfielder Adam arrived at Melwood alongside future captain Jordan Henderson, Alexander Doni, Stewart Downing, Jose Enrique, Sebastian Coates and Welsh firebrand Craig Bellamy. It's safe to say they didn't all have glittering careers at Anfield.
And every once in a while, a passage supposedly from Bellamy's autobiography does the rounds on social media, poking fun at Scottish star Adam - who turns 39 today, December 10 - and his first day at Liverpool. There's just one problem, and sorry to disappoint, but none of it is true.
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"Charlie is a true Scot, and he loves his beer. It's all he ever talked about at the start, having had a brutal close season with a series of lads holidays abroad" the fake extract reads. "Charlie wasn't a shy lad and told the squad all about his escapades, including vomiting into the swimming pool at 2pm one afternoon.
“He was a fat b****** too, Charlie, and he could eat for Scotland," the alleged extract supposedly continues. "Some of the lads called him 'Rab' after the TV comedy character Rab C Nesbitt.
Rab C Nesbitt
Rab C Nesbitt was a comedic character in the 1990s(Image: BBC)
"The first day at training and Charlie had a 'mare. He couldn't control the ball to save his life, couldn't get his breath and kept falling over while trying to run with the ball."
The fake quote, which is routinely shared on Facebook in particular, continues with Bellamy seemingly observing how various Liverpool icons branded Adam as "useless" and also used a variety of - ahem - colourful language to describe his playing ability.
The extract ends with the cutting sign off: "Charlie didn't have the best of seasons and he was sold on to Stoke. I wish him well."
Craig Bellamy of Liverpool celebrates scoring to make it 1-0 with Charlie Adam during the Barclays Premier league match between Aston Villa and Liverpool at Villa Park on December 18, 2011 in Birmingham, England.
The quotes were not in fact from Craig Bellamy about his former team-mate Charlie Adam but the work of a notorious internet spoofer(Image: Getty Images)
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However, Bellamy didn't have anything to do with the false quotes, which were in fact the work of a renowned internet spoofer named Sean. The cheeky prankster shared the fake extract earlier this year with the caption: "Craig Bellamy trending. He hasn't trended on Twitter since that extract from his autobiography about Charlie Adam."
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In a follow up tweet he added: "People still believing it about 12 years later!" And that's not his only work of art.
Cricket icon Mark Waugh fell for another one of his pranks when he read out three fake names of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) members suspended for misbehaviour involving members of the Australian team in the Long Room at Lord’s during the lunch break captured on live TV.
While he also caught out news outlets by elaborating on some of Ryan Giggs' poetry with a "Greville + Neville + Breville = so special" fake stanza during the Manchester United legend's 2023 court case.