Craig Bellamy's Decision to Stay with Wales Amid Burnley Interest

Craig Bellamy was right to sit down with Burnley in the summer. That is the firm view from Football Association of Wales chief football officer David Adams, who says the Wales boss has never hidden his ambition to return to the day‑to‑day grind of club management.

Bellamy’s deal with the FAW runs only until after Euro 2028. He has spoken openly about wanting a club job in the future and, when Burnley came calling about replacing Scott Parker at Turf Moor, he listened. Talks took place with his former club. The noise around them was loud.

He stayed put.

Bellamy has since made it clear the decision to remain in charge of the national team was his. The story around those days, though, has lingered. Adams, speaking on BBC’s Feast of Football podcast, insisted there was nothing underhand about any of it.

“The way it played out was unfortunate, things get leaked these days,” he said. The longer the saga dragged on, the more speculation grew. But inside the FAW, Adams says there was no drama.

“Internally, Craig has always been very open and transparent about opportunities,” he explained. “We all know that Craig wants to eventually go and work in club football, he's made that very clear across his time here.

“For him to go and speak to Burnley was the right thing to do, knowing that he does want to do that at some point.”

Adams himself held regular conversations with Burnley chairman Alan Pace over the summer, just as he did during the process that saw Bellamy leave the Lancashire club in 2024 to take the Wales job. The relationship lines were already well established.

“We were happy for Craig to go and speak to them,” Adams said. Then the story twisted. Reports emerged that Bellamy had accepted the job. According to Adams, that simply was not true.

Burnley believed they had their man. Wales were being told something else.

“And then unfortunately, the way it played out was that they were saying he had accepted the job when he hadn't,” Adams said. “Craig was telling us the same thing as that and then one morning he rang and said 'I'm staying'.

“Craig's very transparent, we speak a lot, we get on well, so that's how it landed really.”

Behind the scenes, though, the FAW cannot afford to be caught cold. The possibility of losing Bellamy, whether to Burnley or another club down the line, means Adams has to think two steps ahead.

He admitted he is constantly assessing future candidates as part of a long‑term succession plan.

“Behind the scenes in my job, I have to be alert to these things and I have to have a list of people in the background that I'd speak to if [Bellamy's departure] ever materialised,” he said.

There is a clear template. The FAW like what has worked.

“We've got a profile of what we're looking for, which we've been pretty successful in doing by selecting former international players into the role,” Adams added.

“That's always our preference, to find someone who is connected to Wales, is passionate about Wales and has Wales in their heart.

“That's been a really good profile of manager to look at in the last 10 years and we would try and stick to that profile ideally.”

A “game-changer” for Welsh women’s football

While Bellamy’s future stirs debate, another decision has lit a fire under the women’s game in Wales. Cardiff’s Principality Stadium will host the women’s Champions League final in 2029, a move Adams called a “game-changer” for the country.

Cardiff City Stadium staged the showpiece in 2017, the same year the men’s Champions League final came to Principality Stadium – rebranded as the National Stadium of Wales for Uefa events. Now the biggest club game in women’s football will return to the capital, this time to the national stadium itself.

“It's absolutely incredible, a game-changer for us,” Adams said.

The numbers show why he feels that way. When he started in his role, women’s internationals in Wales drew around 1,000 fans to Rodney Parade. In the most recent campaign, 15,000 turned out at Cardiff City Stadium.

The growth is not creeping. It is accelerating.

Adams believes seeing elite players in the biggest arenas in the country will change how young girls think about the sport.

He called the sight of role models playing at Cardiff City Stadium and Principality Stadium “just inspirational for those players”.

Wales’ women’s side have already broken new ground. Under Rhian Wilkinson, they qualified for a major tournament for the first time by reaching Euro 2025 in Switzerland. The next target is clear: a first ever World Cup.

They continue their 2027 World Cup qualifying push with a double header against Albania in October. Beyond that lies an even bigger stage. The 2035 women’s World Cup will be held in the United Kingdom, with England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales all hosting matches.

Wales want to be there not just as hosts, but as genuine competitors.

To do that, the FAW know the player pool must deepen and the development system must harden. Progress has been striking, but Adams is blunt: the job is far from done.

“Our goal is to create a pathway, which hasn't been there for women's football, where girls can actually play in a talent system which prepares them to play in tournament football on a consistent basis,” he said.

“I don't think we're there yet, personally. I think what we've done in the last three years is fantastic, with the girls' regional programme.

“But now we've got to try and make sure the girls graduate out of that system and play in the top leagues across Europe.

“That's what gives you the best chance of qualifying consistently for major tournaments.”

For Bellamy and the men’s side, the question is when – not if – club football comes calling again. For the women’s game, the question is different: can Wales turn this moment of momentum into a permanent place among Europe’s elite?