Former Liverpool FC star opens up in depth about his golf club fight with his teammate John Arne Riise
You don't have to be a die-hard soccer fan to remember the rumors surrounding Craig Bellamy's alleged attack on a Liverpool FC teammate with a golf club. Sixteen years later, Bellamy has decided to clear the air.
This Wednesday, a new video was posted on former star Gary Neville's YouTube channel, The Overlap. The special guest was Bellamy, who, among other things, revealed all the details of the incident.
According to Bellamy, the incident occurred a few days before his then-team, Liverpool FC, were about to face Barcelona FC in the last-16 round of the 2007 Champions League.
Liverpool FC were preparing in Portugal, and several members of the team went to play a round of golf.
This is what Craig Bellamy told The Overlap:
"Me, Robbie Fowler, John Arne Riise, Steve Finnan were playing golf and I questioned some of his (Riise) shots, where I thought the ball ended up and where it ended up. I felt there were certain areas where I thought it went somewhere but it ended up in a much better position."
He added:
"I started to get a bit worried when it was in the woods but it was on a tee. It wound me up a little bit, I said to Finnan, ‘he’s cheating’ and he said, ‘don’t worry about it’."
But apparently Bellamy was not happy with what happened on the golf course. Later that night, several Liverpool FC players went to a karaoke bar. Some of them sang, and at one point they tried to get John Arne Riise to sing.
The Norwegian flatly refused to sing. Craig Bellamy kept pushing him to force him to sing, but Riise was adamant in his refusal. From there, the tension escalated.
This is how Bellamy told it:
"I said to him, ‘you’ve got to sing’ and he was dead against it, and I seemed to push it more then like, ‘no you have to’ and it went back and forth and he said, ‘look I ain’t f****** singing and stop trying to f****** make me’."
According to Bellamy, Riise's words made him angry, and the alcohol he had drunk didn't help. Back in his room, he was still upset and decided to confront the Norwegian.
What happened at Liverpool FC's hotel, according to Craig Bellamy?
Bellamy told The Overlap that he started to find out where John Arne Riise was staying in order to follow him. He also told how he got his hands on the famous golf club.
Here's how he put it:
"I said, ‘which club in here don’t you [Steve Finnan, then Bellamy's roomate] like?’ and he said 'the eight iron' so I said 'that’s coming with me'. I knocked on the [Riise's] door, and... he didn’t answer and he gets up and leaves the door on the latch and gone back to bed as he thinks it’s [his then roomate Daniel] Agger."
He added:
“I came in, turned the light on then swore a hell of a lot. People think I’ve smacked him across the head but I smacked him across the legs and then he got into the corner and got the sheets around him."
According to Bellamy, a lot of players came in at the time and put an end to the situation. The Englishman also admitted in The Overlap that he is not proud of that moment in his career.
He said:
"I’m quite embarrassed about this," Bellamy said, "this isn’t a good moment and I really mean that, but I have to own it, it was a ridiculously pathetic act, and I’m not proud of it."
A few days later, Liverpool FC defeated Barcelona FC by two goals to one. The scorers for the Beatle's city team were none other than Craig Bellamy and John Arne Riise. Bellamy even assisted Riise's goal.
Liverpool FC eventually made it to the final of the 2007 Champions League. There, they lost to AC Milan.