Birmingham City: Do you remember Jude Bellingham's senior debut? | OneFootball

Jude Bellingham has gone from strength-to-strength since he came onto the scene with Birmingham City before dominating the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund, becoming an important figure within Gareth Southgate’s England squad while also taking La Liga by storm since joining Real Madrid.

Yet, it must be remembered that all the signs of this world-class talent were on display in his debut with the Blues.

Jude Bellingham’s senior debut with Birmingham City

Pundits and fans alike may believe that his debut may have been in a Championship fixture for Birmingham; however, Bellingham’s first start was in the EFL Carabao Cup against Portsmouth in the first round on August 6, 2019.

The match at Fratton Park had 9,913 in attendance to witness the first senior game for the English midfielder. This debut made Bellingham the youngest first-team player to play for the club at the age of 16 years and 38 days old, taking the record from Trevor Francis set in 1970 by 101 days.

Pep Clotet made nine changes to the Birmingham team for this fixture, with Bellingham being one of the changes. This decision by the Blues manager turned out to be detrimental to their EFL Cup campaign that year, as the club lost 3-0 to Portsmouth.

Two goals from Ellis Harrison and a tidy finish by Ben Close would secure Pompey’s progression into the second round of the competition, where they would beat another Championship side, Queens Park Rangers, before crashing out in the third round to south coast rivals Southampton.

Birmingham struggled for the rest of the season in the Championship as they avoided relegation by two points, failing to win a league game after their fixture against Barnsley on February 11, 2020.

How did Jude Bellingham perform in his senior debut?

Despite the loss to Portsmouth, Bellingham would perform amicably, as he won the man of the match award in the fixture. The game was always going to be difficult for Bellingham as Pompey controlled proceedings, dominating all the statistics of the game, limiting the opportunities for the now-Real Madrid midfielder to influence the match.

Bellingham’s first impact in the match was a blocked-down shot in the 15th minute from outside the box. The Englishman would win a free kick early in the second half as he looked to turn the tide of the game, as Birmingham were 2-0 down at this stage. However, three minutes later, Pompey would score their third goal, ending any hope Bellingham had of winning his senior debut.

Bellingham’s game would end in the 80th minute as he was substituted for Caolan Boyd-Munce, five minutes after he had received a yellow card for a foul.

The future Borussia Dortmund player worked hard throughout the fixture, earning him the man of the match award. This impressive feat to win such an award on a senior debut is something not many footballers achieve, demonstrating the world-class attributes that Bellingham had right from the beginning of his career.