Cardiff City promotion hero Craig Bellamy has shared his annoyance at his former club's unwillingness to pick young Welsh talent to feature for the first team, according to an interview in The Times.

Bellamy was the Head of Development at the Cardiff Academy from 2016 to 2019, where he oversaw each age group and coached the sides aiming to jump into the first team.

The 40-year-old has hinted that it was down to the management structure in place above him that no homegrown players were considered, while Neil Warnock was first-team manager.

In previous years, players such as Aaron Ramsey, Joe Ledley and Declan John have been products of the youth system in the Welsh capital.

In recent years, however, there has been a lack of young Welsh talent. The only current first-team player that has come through the academy is Aldershot-born midfielder, Joe Ralls.

Bellamy is currently a youth-team coach at Anderlecht in Belgium, and has compared the youth systems at both clubs. He told The Times:

"There have been six youngsters from [Anderlecht] making their first-team debut already this season. Not one in two years at Cardiff. I tried and I tried but I couldn’t even get them into first-team training."

He added:

“I tried to change it at Cardiff because I’m from there. But you can’t change above you. Everyone at the club has to believe in it. So it’s from one extreme at Cardiff to another here at Anderlecht where it’s totally about development.”

The Verdict

It is a scathing assessment from the ex-Cardiff man, and it will have Cardiff fans asking questions about why Warnock has not given youth players a chance at the club, especially as their rivals down the road are polar opposites.

Swansea have been giving recent chances to their young Welsh players, such as Joe Rodon and Connor Roberts, with Dan James moving to Manchester United during the summer.