Craig Bellamy's Future with Wales: Insights from FAW's David Adams

Craig Bellamy was right to sit down with Burnley in the summer. That is the firm view from Football Association of Wales chief football officer David Adams, who insists the Wales manager did nothing wrong by exploring a return to club football.

Bellamy, whose FAW deal runs until after Euro 2028, has been open for years about wanting a shot as a club boss. When Burnley – the club where he had been on the coaching staff before leaving for the Wales job in 2024 – came calling over the possibility of succeeding Scott Parker at Turf Moor, he listened.

He talked. He considered it. Then he stayed.

From the outside, the saga looked messy. Reports suggested he had accepted the job before anything was signed. Inside the FAW, Adams says, the picture was very different.

"The way it played out was unfortunate, things get leaked these days," Adams told the BBC’s Feast of Football podcast. "Naturally, the longer things go on, people start to make their own noise in some respects.

"Internally, Craig has always been very open and transparent about opportunities. We all know that Craig wants to eventually go and work in club football, he's made that very clear across his time here.

"For him to go and speak to Burnley was the right thing to do, knowing that he does want to do that at some point."

Adams was in regular contact with Burnley chairman Alan Pace during the summer, just as he had been during the process that took Bellamy out of Lancashire and into the Wales job in the first place.

"We were happy for Craig to go and speak to them," Adams said. "And then unfortunately, the way it played out was that they were saying he had accepted the job when he hadn't.

"Craig was telling us the same thing as that and then one morning he rang and said 'I'm staying'.

"Craig's very transparent, we speak a lot, we get on well, so that's how it landed really."

So Bellamy remains in charge of Wales, but the FAW are not blind to the reality. A coach with club ambitions will attract interest. Adams’ job is to be ready for the day those ambitions take him away.

Behind the scenes, the succession planning never stops.

"Behind the scenes in my job, I have to be alert to these things and I have to have a list of people in the background that I'd speak to if [Bellamy's departure] ever materialised," Adams explained.

"We've got a profile of what we're looking for, which we've been pretty successful in doing by selecting former international players into the role.

"That's always our preference, to find someone who is connected to Wales, is passionate about Wales and has Wales in their heart.

"That's been a really good profile of manager to look at in the last 10 years and we would try and stick to that profile ideally."

A “game-changer” for Welsh football

While Bellamy’s future continues to hover on the horizon, Adams is already looking at milestones that could reshape the sport in the country.

The announcement that Cardiff’s Principality Stadium will host the women’s Champions League final in 2029 drew a sharp reaction from him. Not cautious optimism. Something stronger.

"It's absolutely incredible, a game-changer for us," he said.

Cardiff City Stadium staged the women’s Champions League final in 2017, the same year the men’s showpiece was played at Principality Stadium – rebadged as the National Stadium of Wales for Uefa events.

The difference now is the scale of the women’s game in Wales.

"You've seen the growth in the women's game," Adams said. "When I first came into the job, we were getting maybe 1,000 people at Rodney Parade for women's games.

"We got 15,000 at Cardiff City Stadium in this last campaign, so you can see the growth and how quickly the game is moving."

For Adams, it is not just about big nights and big crowds. It is about what those nights do to young players watching on from the stands.

He calls it "just inspirational for those players" to see role models at the home of Cardiff City and at Principality Stadium, venues that once felt reserved for the men’s game and the biggest rugby occasions.

Wales’ women’s team have already broken one barrier, qualifying for a major tournament for the first time under Rhian Wilkinson by reaching Euro 2025 in Switzerland. The next target is clear: a first World Cup.

They continue their 2027 World Cup qualifying campaign with a double header against Albania in October, a pivotal block in a bid to make the tournament a regular destination rather than a dream.

And then there is the longer horizon. The 2035 women’s World Cup will be staged in the United Kingdom, with England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales all hosting matches. Wales do not just want to be part of the event as a host. They want to be in it, and competitive.

To do that, Adams knows the player pool has to deepen and toughen.

"Our goal is to create a pathway, which hasn't been there for women's football, where girls can actually play in a talent system which prepares them to play in tournament football on a consistent basis," he said.

"I don't think we're there yet, personally. I think what we've done in the last three years is fantastic, with the girls' regional programme.

"But now we've got to try and make sure the girls graduate out of that system and play in the top leagues across Europe.

"That's what gives you the best chance of qualifying consistently for major tournaments."

Bellamy weighing up club offers. A Champions League final in Cardiff. A home World Cup on the distant horizon. For Adams and the FAW, the question is no longer whether Welsh football can grow – it is whether they can build fast enough to match the scale of what is coming.