IT was hardly a display of Bellingham family togetherness.
In the stands at Borussia Dortmund’s stadium last week, Mark and Denise — parents to footballing prodigies Jude and Jobe — sat noticeably apart.
A throwback to happier times for Jude, Denise, Mark and Jobe
Superstar Jude Bellingham playing for Real Madrid
Jude’s brother Jobe playing at German club Borussia Dortmund
A German newspaper suggested there was a “dangerously tense atmosphere” and that Mark, 49, and Denise, 57, avoided conversation as they watched Jobe play.
Now, the cause of this alleged frostiness might have come into focus.
A photo has emerged showing ex-policeman Mark with his arm draped around the shoulders of Shelley Punshon, a detective constable with West Mercia police, as they stood on a woodland path.
It was uploaded by divorced, mum-of-two Shelley.
Comments underneath included love hearts, with one poster writing: “Lovely couple xx”.
Shelley, from Stourbridge, West Mids, where the Bellinghams brought up their two boys, added that they were “off to Santorini soon”.
‘Jobe is struggling’
The reports that and that Mark and Shelley have grown close come just a month after Jude, 22, seemed to be more loved up than ever with his sweetheart, model and
The pair were all over each other during a romantic beach break in Sardinia, engaging in a PDA that made locals cringe.
While Mark and Denise are widely regarded to have shrewdly master-minded their sons’ stellar careers, these latest reports come during an unsettled period for the boys.
Real Madrid midfield dynamo Jude — the talisman of the England team — was for tonight’s World Cup qualifier against Latvia.
has come under scrutiny since June when he revealed his mum Gabriele finds Jude’s on-field demeanour “repulsive”.
She was referring to a raging after England lost to Senegal.
Tuchel added that Jude’s aggression can sometimes intimidate teammates.
He explained: “I think he brings an edge, which we welcome.
“The edge needs to be channelled toward the opponent, towards our goal and not to intimidate teammates, or to be overaggressive to teammates or referees.
“He has a certain edge that is hard to find. But I see that it can create mixed emotions.
“I see this with my mum, that she sometimes cannot see the nice and well-educated and well-behaved guy that I see.”
The picture shared on Facebook of Mark with his arm round Shelley
Jobe, 20, has yet to complete a full 90 minutes in a league game this season for Dortmund.
A source in reportedly claimed: “It’s obvious to the management that Jobe is struggling with personal matters.
“He has struggled to make friends in the team, rarely goes out socialising in Dortmund and spends most of his time in his house alone.
“The atmosphere and tension in the family is affecting his performances on the pitch.
“At the recent match his parents attended they came and left alone and didn’t speak once.
“There are worries that Jobe feels very insecure and pressurised by what is going on.”
That non-league style of toughness and being gritty when you need is reflected in my game, and I do think that comes from watching my dad play
Jude Bellingham
Whether the claims are true or not, what is certain is that Mark and Denise have been guiding lights in their sons’ success stories.
Mark, once a prolific striker in the world of non-league , acts as their agent, negotiating transfers, salaries and lucrative sponsorship deals.
While Denise, who used to work in human resources, looks after the boys’ financial affairs.
Mark raised eyebrows — and the ire of England World Cup hat-trick hero — when he confronted Dortmund’s hierarchy after Jobe was substituted at half-time during a game in August.
Jude and Ashlyn Castro on Sardinia trip last month
Influencer Ashlyn, who is dating Jude
Reports at the time suggested Mark waited in the tunnel at full-time and held an “emotional” discussion with sporting director Sebastian Kehl.
Later, Dortmund’s managing director Lars Ricken said Mark and Kehl “stood in the hallway to the locker room and had an emotional conversation” which “is not a problem at all”, given their relationship.
However, Dortmund have now banned all family members from the tunnel area following Mark’s outburst.
Sir Geoff weighed in on the incident, saying: “A thing that has irritated me is a picture in one of the papers about the most powerful man in English football — and it’s Jude Bellingham’s father.
“He was complaining when his son was taken off in a game — and that is an absolute joke. If you don’t eradicate that kind of thing, that is an absolute disgrace.”
British journalists report feeling the sharpness of Mark’s tongue when asking innocuous questions about his boys.
Jude kicks water cooler after England defeat in June
Jude with England boss Tuchel, who has dropped the player
Yet, there is no doubt that alongside Denise, the former sergeant in the West Midlands Police has been an astute guide on his sons’ career paths.
It all began amid windblown, mud-splattered English pitches a world away from and Real Madrid’s Bernabeu Stadium.
Jude and Jobe, watched over by Denise, saw their father compete at rough-and-tumble football outposts from Southend to Sutton Coldfield.
He had spells with some 15 different clubs, including Bromsgrove Rovers and Stourbridge, but described himself as “not very good”.
In his prime, Mark earned around £200 a week from football. Both his sons would earn that in moments.
Jude once tweeted a photo of him being cradled by his crop-headed dad as he trudged off the pitch before a game for Southend’s Catholic United in .
The England man said of his dad: “I used to watch him play all the time, it’s where I started to get that love for football.
My mum keeps me in check on a daily basis, does pretty much everything for me
Jude Bellingham
“That non-league style of toughness and being gritty when you need is reflected in my game, and I do think that comes from watching my dad play — even though he never tackled!”
Jude, born in 2003, and Jobe who followed two years later, honed their own skills on a scrap of grass outside the family’s home in Hagley, near Stourbridge.
Former West Bromwich Albion winger Gary Hackett, who later managed Mark at Stourbridge, remembers Jude and Jobe playing in a local park.
He recalled: “Even if they weren’t involved in the session they would be running and kicking a ball and you could just see they had a passion for football.
“You could see they were naturally gifted athletes. They could run and they had good technical skills.”
Their parents ensured both lads joined Birmingham City’s academy, where their talents were nurtured.
Both went on to play for in the German .
When Jude moved to Germany in 2020, Denise went with him.
‘Mum is the queen’
Mark, then still a serving officer, stayed back in England to look after Jobe.
Jude once said: “My mum keeps me in check on a daily basis, does pretty much everything for me.”
In 2023, I visited Real Madrid’s training ground where Jude is now a superstar.
Mum Denise chauffeured him to and from the sprawling complex. Jude has admitted: “My mum is the queen, the boss.”
Shortly before the start of the 2022 Qatar World Cup Mark handed in his West Midlands Police warrant card, tweeting: “As of midnight I became a civilian after 24+ years service.
“Cops ain’t perfect but they’re trying their best under difficult circumstances.”
Photos showed Mark and Denise watching proudly from the stands in the Gulf nation as Jude turned out for England. Their boys’ success had been a real family effort.
Yet Jude and Jobe’s careers had often seen Denise and Mark in different countries to one another over the last five years.
Now, if reports are to be believed, their two decades-long marriage has hit the buffers.
Yet, the two lads they nurtured will surely go from strength to strength.
