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Cardiff City and Wales idol Craig Bellamy has announced his retirement as a player, admitting: “My body couldn’t take it any more.”

Bellamy revealed the news to WalesOnline in an exclusive interview today.

He plans to spend the next two years preparing for a move into management and admits taking charge of Wales one day is a major ambition moving forward.

Bellamy, 34, has called it a day after a glittering career which started at Norwich City in 1997 and finished with Cardiff City’s Premier League clash against Chelsea two weeks ago.

He also played for Coventry, Newcastle, Celtic, Blackburn, Liverpool, West Ham and Manchester City and won 78 caps for Wales.

Reflecting upon his playing days, Bellamy said bowing out in front of his own people at a capacity Cardiff City Stadium was the perfect way to say farewell to the game.

Paul Abbandonato speaks on how Craig Bellamy revealed he was going to retire...

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He also predicts the Bluebirds will bounce back up into the Premier League ... and be much better prepared for the demanding experience they have just gone through, on and off the pitch.

“It’s been on my mind to finish playing for the last couple of years, but this time I’ve had to make a decision. I’ve had to listen to my body,” said Bellamy, who has had offers to carry on playing from America and other English clubs.

“Usually, whenever I went into a new season I set myself a specific challenge. For last couple of years, that challenge was just to be able to get out there on the pitch and be able to play.

“I guess over the years I’ve become accustomed to the pain from various injuries, but for the last three to four years I’ve been on anti-inflammatories every day.

“I’m not sure my body will think that’s a wise thing in due course, but it kept me playing for that period.

“However, the time has come to stand aside and say enough.

“When Cardiff got promoted, it was the sense of achievement with my hometown club that meant most to me, rather than being able to play another season in the Premier League. I had performed at that level for 12 years anyway, the goal of getting Cardiff up there meant more to me than actually playing there again myself.

“But I spoke to Malky Mackay and he talked me around for one last challenge. I wasn’t sure I could offer too much, to be honest.

“Look back at pictures and you’ll see I finished that Championship-winning campaign with strapping on my knee, strapping elsewhere, strapping pretty much everywhere just to get me through.

“But Malky said ‘I don’t expect you to play as many games, but we need your experience and know-how around the place for the Premier League.’

“He convinced me ... so I ended up giving it one more season. But the idea was always to retire then and, two weeks after the end of the campaign, this is the correct time to make the announcement.

“I didn’t want to say anything earlier because the priority was Cardiff City and us trying to avoid relegation, not Craig Bellamy and his personal future. I didn’t want to cause distraction until the season was over, but whether we kept our place in the League or went down, it wasn’t going to change my mind.

“I informed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and he understands.

“Of course I want to keep playing, that’s the best thing for any footballer. But I’m looking forward to not having to put my body through the pain, I have to say.

“I could go to the Major Soccer League across the Atlantic, I’ve had offers from clubs in England. But it’s not just the playing and training, it’s the maintenance work I have to do on my body in order to be able to play. The extra hour of strengthening work I have to do after training, that type of thing.

“If I’m honest, I’ve had a few sleepless nights over the last three to four months. How am I going to handle it, I’ve not completely prepared myself for not playing?

“Not waking up in pain at the moment is nice, I can enjoy it. When the season starts, it could be a different matter.

“But I do have lots of business activities to keep me busy and I’m taking my full coaching badges. I’ve got A, B and C, I just need to do the Pro-Licence which will prepare me properly for management.

“I plan to visit lots of football club, home and abroad, look at training in different sports, to broaden my knowledge. Then, when the management opportunity comes, I will be as fully prepared as possible.”

Bellamy’s farewell appearance was a goalscoring one, the Bluebirds man seeing his shot deflect off Cesar Azpilicueta and fly into the Chelsea goal in Cardiff’s Premier League swansong.

“If there was a fitting way to bow out, this was it,” he says. “The Premier League, a packed Cardiff City Stadium, my home city, Chelsea, walking off to a round of applause when I was substituted, looking around and seeing the fans wearing blue. Then, as I was walked off the pitch, Jose Mourinho came up to me and said a few kind words.

“I walked straight down the tunnel. I wanted that to be my last memory of playing because it was so wonderful.

“It’s the reason Cardiff fans didn’t see me out doing the traditional end of season parade around the ground afterwards. I didn’t want to do that in front of a half empty ground, I wanted to leave with my memory.

(Image: Huw Evans Agency, Cardiff)

“If I offended anyone by not being out there for that lap of honour, I certainly didn’t mean it to be that way. This is my chance to explain, as such, why that was the case and I’m sure Cardiff fans will understand.

“I just recall walking off, Mourinho speaking to me, looking to my right, seeing the blue... and that was it, I was down the tunnel with a memory of something I will never forget.”

The 2-1 Chelsea loss, of course, condemned Cardiff to the bottom of the Premier League, but Bellamy is adamant his hometown club will be better for the experience of the last nine months.

“Were we ready for it? I think every club will say they are in those circumstances, but we will certainly know a lot more about how to handle this type of experience next time it happens,” says Bellamy.

“People say Swansea keep their place in the Premier League, but we’re not Swansea City. The way the club is run is different, the culture is different.

“It was a difficult, difficult season for everyone concerned. Extra tough because of the influence from outside. Look, that’s not an excuse, we came down because we weren’t good enough, but we made headlines we shouldn’t have made off the field.

“For each of us, staff, players, most importantly the fans, it was disappointing, But we can come back and learn from it. The experience of being in the Premier League will be seen as a bit of a bonus next time the club are promoted.”

So how does Bellamy see his football legacy?

“I’m not sure, is the answer to that. But I do have to pinch myself at times when I look back at some of the things I have achieved, I really do,” he answers.

“I’ve been an angry young man at time. So much of my career was affected by injuries. Not just the well documented surgery, but the hamstring pulls and other things. Injuries hit me hard and they always seemed to come at key times. Back then I didn’t understand my body as well as I began to do towards the end of my career.

(Image: Action Images / Lee Smith)

“But I think that anger I’ve displayed has been channelled into making me a better player. It gave me determination to get through those many injury problems.

“I was always far more at ease with myself as a player during the last couple of years with Cardiff.

“Even if I did manage something special when I was younger, I would dismiss that success within seconds and set myself the next goal. That was what drove me on.

“If truth be know, I got little enjoyment for large parts of my career. In hindsight, I needed to reflect more, be proud of what I did. Instead, I set myself unrealistic targets at times.

“But in the last couple of years I’ve been more proud, able to step back, enjoy my accomplishments. Why? Because my mind was in a good place.

“Previously, defeats would drive me mad. As a professional, you’re taught from a young age to despise losing.

“But I began to accept that in football you will win some games and you will lose some games, with draws here and there too. That’s just the nature of the game. Sometimes days don’t go for you and your opponents play better.

“Once I began to accept that, I could come to terms with the defeats. In turn, that meant I could enjoy the wins a lot more.

“I think the last couple of years with Cardiff have been more enjoyable than perhaps the rest of my career in that respect.

“When we went up into the Premier League, Malky told us ‘Individuals win games, team-work wins titles’. It was a grind, but I knew we had to get the job done. And I took so much satisfaction from it.

“I recall us beating Millwall 1-0 at home. In truth, we should have been looking to win that one by three or four, but we realised the most important thing was the three points. The bigger picture of promotion mattered more than those 90 minutes. One more game chalked off. Keep doing that game by game until the opposition fixtures ran out and they couldn’t catch us.”

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He concluded: “I’ve been privileged to play at some truly top clubs, next to brilliant team-mates, excellent managers. People I’m honoured to be able to say were my colleagues.

“People know about Liverpool, Man City, Newcastle, Celtic, Cardiff, but don’t forget West Ham. Only on going there did I realise just what a massive club they are. To Londoners, West Ham are very much THE club.

“I’ve met so many good people, coaches, backroom staff. Yes there are some bad people involved in football, but you come across far more good than bad.

“So with regards your legacy question, I repeat, I don’t know. But what I do know is that this game has left far more of a mark on me than I will leave on it.”