How Craig Bellamy almost became an Everton player

Michael Kenrick
20/03/2026

In the Mirror’s final extract from his new autobiography, Craig Bellamy describes how he was put off by seeing two very different sides of David Moyes…

I met David Moyes at the Celtic Manor hotel just outside Newport after my loan spell at Celtic from Newcastle had finished in the summer of 2005.

I really enjoyed talking to him. I always liked the way Everton played under him. I love their work ethic and their attitude. Moyes was very persuasive.

I felt a bid odd about the prospect of joining them because I had been a committed Liverpool fan since I was a kid, but he sold me on Everton.

I agreed terms and went up to meet Moyes again, this time at his house near Preston. I took my suitcase with me, so I could move into a hotel that night after I had signed and start pre-season training the next day.

But when I got there, I could tell straight away that something had changed. It was like talking to a different bloke. He seemed tense and hostile.


© ToffeeWeb