Retiree Keith Hall blows a kiss towards a superhero comic-style mural of Jude Bellingham as he wheels his bike past Stourbridge's shopping centre. Bellingham, the star midfielder who has powered England through to the World Cup semi-final against Argentina, is a local lad who keeps in touch with his roots despite now playing for Real Madrid.
Bellingham launched his football career playing for the Stourbridge Juniors, before joining Birmingham City's youth side and becoming the club's youngest first-team player. Grocery store worker Sam Holden, 21, gushes, 'He's the coolest man currently living. Harry Kane obviously can kind of save us in our time of need, but Jude Bellingham can just take us to the heights that England absolutely are capable of reaching.'
The fever has spread beyond Stourbridge, known as Black Country, with a railway station in southeast London briefly renamed to 'Jude Bellingham' station. In a pub in the village of Hagley near Stourbridge, Vienna Letts pulls pints and recalls the incredible atmosphere when Bellingham and England take to the field. 'Hagley is quite a niche, quiet community normally, but it's like we've all come into one space to just support Jude,' she said.
After two stunning goals against Norway on Saturday that fired England into the semis, Bellingham is tied with team captain Kane on six goals in the tournament. A local shop displays a portrait of Bellingham in its window, and during an interview, a man walks past yelling 'hail king Jude!' In Birmingham, a mural has popped up showing the 23-year-old and teammate and fellow local Morgan Rogers eating local delicacy battered chips -- dipped in an orange batter and deep-fried.
'He's like a hero for other local people, local children, knowing (if) you work hard, you can meet your dreams,' said Harpreet Bains, a 40-year-old teacher, visiting the mural. Back in Stourbridge, tanning salon manager Jessica said she'd been hearing chants of 'Hey Jude' around town during the World Cup. 'My children, they've now learned what that song is from it being sung at the football matches,' she said. 'They (go) round the house singing it as well.'
