Highlights

• Jude Bellingham's father, Mark, was a non-league goalscorer and played a major role in his son's success.
• Bellingham is considered one of the best players in the world and impressed at the 2022 World Cup.
• Former England international Gary Neville praised Bellingham's versatility, maturity, and fearlessness on the pitch.

Jude Bellingham's dad, Mark, was a non-league goalscoring machine who inspired his superstar son. Arguably the world's best player on current form, Bellingham has significantly enhanced his burgeoning reputation since joining Real Madrid from Borussia Dortmund in the summer.

The 20-year-old - Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti recently suggested we should check his passport to make sure he's not secretly older because of his remarkable maturity - was also one of England's standout performers at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. His commanding display during England's 3-0 win over Senegal in the Round of 16 was nothing short of outstanding.

"It's very rare you see a midfield player as comfortable in his own half as in the attacking half," former England international turned pundit Gary Neville told ITV, per Sky Sports. "He looks like he can do absolutely everything. Is he a holding player, an attacking player? He's everything in one. "Physically he's fantastic, so young but it's the composure, maturity and fearlessness I can't get my head around. I watched players play for England for many years, the weight of the shirt was enormous. He just doesn't feel it at all, he looks like he belongs out there, like he wants it and needs it in his life."

Birmingham retired Bellingham's shirt in 2022

Birmingham City famously raised eyebrows when they retired Bellingham's No. 22 shirt after the 17-year-old left his boyhood club for Dortmund in 2020. Three years later and that decision, in retrospect, looks a lot easier to understand.

Who is Jude Bellingham's dad, Mark?

Bellingham could have picked any team on the planet last summer but eventually opted to sign for Real Madrid, Europe's most successful club. There's no doubt that the young midfielder would have consulted his dad prior to the biggest decision of his career so far.

Mark Bellingham may not have made it to the top of football like his son, but he was still a fine player in his own right. In fact, he's a bit of a non-league legend in England.

How many goals did Mark Bellingham score?

In September 2016, Mark made headlines after netting his 700th goal at the age of 40. The Southend-born striker, who notched his first goal for East Thurrock United against Horsham YMCA in 1994 (nine years before Jude was born), combined scoring goals for fun at weekends with his job as a sergeant for West Midlands Police.

He bagged his 700th non-league goal with a free-kick for Paget in a 4-2 win against Fairfield Villa. "I've started to score a lot more tap-ins and the range is getting a lot shorter," Bellingham told The Non-League Paper after scoring his landmark goal. "The 700th was a free-kick which isn't regular for me at all, anything outside the box for me is abnormal!

"I needed 38 goals last season but got to 36 and then was banned for the last game because of a red card - my first ever sending-off. I was thinking over the summer whether it was the right time to go out, but with just two needed to reach 700, it felt like there was a bit of unfinished business. It's out of the way now so I can chill out. I'll play as much as I can for Paget, who have been great with me, and hopefully score a few more!"

Which clubs did Mark Bellingham play for?

Bellingham Snr hung up his boots a year later, bringing the curtain down on a career that saw him play for clubs including Stourbridge, Halesowen, Bromsgrove, Leamington and Sutton Coldfield. "Honestly, I don't know how he did it," Jason Cadden, Leamington's manager when Bellingham scored 48 goals to secure promotion to the Southern Premier in 2009, was quoted saying by Birmingham Mail.

"Evening games, the full-time whistle would blow and you'd see Mark sprint off the pitch. He'd jump in the shower, get in his car and start his police shift at 10pm. To juggle his job, his family life and yet still do what he did on the pitch it's full credit to him as a person, really. And he played into his forties!"

Jude Bellingham on watching his dad, Mark

On watching his dad, Jude told The Guardian in 2020: "I used to watch him play all the time. It's where I started to get that love for football. I think you can see in the way I play that I've watched the game from a young age. That non-league style of toughness and being gritty when you need to be is reflected in my game, and I do think that comes from watching my dad play - even though he never tackled!"

Jude Bellingham: My parents are great people

Mark played a major role in his son's decision to move to Germany. Jude initially shared an apartment with his mother, Denise, who helped him to adapt to life in a new country. "Before being great parents they're great people," the level-headed Jude said. "I've grown up around them and seen the way they interact with other people, seen the way they treat people.

"When you have people like that, you don't have to be told how to behave, you pick that up from them. Both are working-class and filled me with the things you need to get along. You can take those lessons in your personal life and social life, but also into footballl: not giving up, working hard and if you want something, putting in the graft to go and get it."

READ MORE: The reason why Jobe Bellingham doesn't have his surname on the back of his shirt