The former Newcastle United star did not enjoy his short stint with Coventry City and lambasted the club after arriving at St James' Park
Craig Bellamy (Wales) during Group Stage, UEFA Nations League, Denmark and Wales at Parken Stadium, Copenhagen
Craig Bellamy preferred his days with Newcastle United to Coventry City(Image: Getty)
Craig Bellamy claimed "everything was rubbish" at Coventry City after leaving them for Newcastle United in 2001. Matthias Jaissle's men travel to face the newly promoted side on Monday evening - and it's no secret who Bellamy will likely be supporting.
The 47-year-old enjoyed his stint at St James' Park far more than his experiences with the Sky Blues. Bellamy began his professional career with Norwich City and after impressing, earned a then-club-record £6.5million move to Coventry in August 2000. However, in his only season with the club, he suffered relegation.
He soon left, arriving on Tyneside a year later, where he prospered and scored 42 goals in 128 appearances. Bellamy went on to play for the likes of Liverpool, West Ham and Manchester City, finishing his career in 2014 having scored 167 goals in 543 competitive matches.
Two of the Welshman's former sides are now set to duel it out in the Premier League. Still, he holds much fonder memories of his time with the Magpies, even though he was lambasted and publicly outed for an incident during a mid-season training camp in Spain soon after joining.
"I never once said I enjoyed it at Coventry because the truth is I didn't," Bellamy said in December 2001. "I didn't like the club and it was quite difficult to play there.
Craig Bellamy playing for Coventry City
Bellamy was not impressed with Coventry's facilities(Image: Getty)
"The players were a great bunch of lads, apart from that, the ground was rubbish - everything was rubbish. It was quite demoralising because I'd really enjoyed playing for Norwich.
"When I went to Coventry, I found I had taken a backward step. The facilities weren't as good and the way the club was run and organised was a massive step down for me."
Bellamy, who is now Wales manager, made this admission despite having just been fined two weeks' wages at Newcastle and given a severe dressing-down following an incident on a mid-season training trip to Malaga.
Just under five months after arriving, Bellamy and three of his new team-mates - Carl Cort, Kieron Dyer and Andy Griffin - skipped an official club dinner held in honour of Newcastle's life president, Sir John Hall.
Craig Bellamy playing for Newcastle United
The Welsh star was disciplined less than half a year after joining the Magpies(Image: Getty)
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The players, who were dubbed 'The Newcastle Four' in the wake of the ordeal, instead went to a local bar, where they charged drinks and cigars to then-chairman Freddy Shepherd's hotel room.
All four insisted they did not realise the event's importance, but the club's hierarchy was furious. Manager at the time, Sir Bobby Robson, sent all four home.
They were made to take commercial flights back to Heathrow whilst facing heavy scrutiny. A media storm evolved and the players were slapped with hefty fines. But Bellamy still hinted his time at Coventry was less enjoyable.
"The chairman and the manager were great to us," he said after the incident. "They called us in and insisted there was no bitterness. They treated us like grown men even though we acted like boys. We were very childish."