Craig Bellamy Commits to Wales Amid Burnley Interest
Craig Bellamy insists his heart – and his future – remain with Wales, revealing it was his call to turn down a summer move back into club football with Burnley.
The Wales head coach confirmed he held talks with the Championship side after they sounded him out to replace Scott Parker following relegation from the Premier League. The Football Association of Wales had given Burnley permission to speak to him in June after a compensation clause was triggered.
Bellamy listened. Then he walked away.
“I had a decision to make and I made it,” the 47-year-old said. “It didn't break down. I said no, it's not for me. That was it. There was no walk away from discussions. It wasn't for me.
“I made the decision to stay because this is the right place for me.”
The approach, he admitted, was “flattering”. It arrived two years into his four-year deal with Wales and forced him to seriously consider quitting his national post. The pull of club football was real. So was the appeal of a return to Turf Moor, where he had previously worked as Vincent Kompany’s assistant during a successful spell.
That history, Bellamy suggested, was exactly why he felt he owed Burnley a proper conversation.
Yet the answer never shifted.
“We had a conversation but I was already in a role and this (Wales) was what I wanted,” he said. “It was flattering – we all like our ego being exercised and being wanted – but for me, my partner, my kids, this is the place and we didn't see anything else being able to move that.”
The timing of the saga irritated some Wales supporters. Just weeks earlier, Bellamy had publicly insisted he “was not going anywhere”. When news of Burnley’s interest emerged, former players questioned whether he would now need to win fans back. A section of the fanbase voiced their disappointment.
Bellamy did not dodge that perception. He simply refused to be defined by it.
“I know how it could be seen, but I've only one person I have anything to prove to, and that's me,” he said, speaking as he announced his 28-man squad for Nations League A fixtures against Portugal, Denmark and Norway.
“I'm comfortable with the decision I've made. I've always been committed in everything I do and that hasn't changed.
“Now, winning people over? I don't know, that's the honest truth.”
His Wales tenure has already swung between promise and pain. After replacing Rob Page in 2024, Bellamy oversaw an impressive, unbeaten promotion to the top tier of the Nations League, a surge that seemed to reset the mood around the national team. Then came the blow.
In March, Wales fell agonisingly short of the 2026 World Cup, losing on penalties to Bosnia-Herzegovina in the play-offs. The failure to reach the tournament has drawn criticism, sharpening the scrutiny on a manager still relatively early in his international reign.
Bellamy did not try to soften the reality. Results, he stressed, will always dictate how long any manager survives.
He also refused to make bold promises about seeing out his contract in such a volatile profession, acknowledging that nothing is guaranteed in the dugout. The question that really matters to Wales fans, though, is whether he sees himself leading the team into Euro 2028, with the prospect of home games in Cardiff looming on the horizon.
His answer came quickly.
“Oh, I'd love to – but that's two years from now. Nothing's guaranteed. I'm no different, I'm not more special than anyone else (in management).”
For now, the noise around Burnley has faded. The speculation has been parked. Bellamy stays where he believes he belongs – chasing a Wales side capable of walking out in front of a home crowd at a European Championship, and determined to still be the man in the technical area when that anthem hits.
