Bellamy jets out for Wales

By Matthew Jones
September 6 2002

Wales have underlined how vital Craig Bellamy is to their cause by chartering a private jet to fly him to Finland for their Euro 2004 clash.

Wales have underlined how vital Craig Bellamy is to their cause by chartering a private jet to fly him to Finland for their Euro 2004 clash.

Newcastle striker Bellamy is set to play a maximum of 20 minutes against the Finns in Helsinki as he continues his comeback from long-term injury.

But that did not stop the Welsh FA from taking radical action when Bellamy's scheduled flight to Amsterdam was delayed by four hours on Thursday, meaning he would miss his connecting flight to Helsinki.

A seven-seater jet, costing £8,000, was hurriedly chartered and Bellamy arrived in Finland last night, although too late to take part in Wales' training session at Helsinki's Olympic Stadium - venue of Saturday's game.

"It shows how important we felt Craig was to the squad," said Welsh FA spokesman Ceri Stennett. "We are not exactly rolling in money, so the outlay had to be cleared, but everyone felt it was important to make the effort to get him here."