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'He's one of our own' Stourbridge cheers on Bellingham
The Guardian
|June 26, 2024
"They adore him. Everyone around here adores him. What he's done, it's absolutely ridiculous," says 26-year-old football fan Kyle Jackson.
It's over an hour before kickoff in England's final group game against Slovenia, and the benches of the Green Duck Brewery in Stourbridge are already packed and Jude Bellingham is the player everyone is waiting to watch.
"He's got the world at his feet. It makes people proud, him being from around here," said Jackson.
"You can hear everyone chanting, 'He's one of our own'."
Bellingham was born in Stourbridge, a West Midlands market town about 10 miles outside Birmingham, and people there are fiercely proud of the local lad who, at 20 years old, is already ranked as one of the best players in the world.
This story is from the June 26, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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