David Beckham
David Robert Joseph Beckham OBE (/ˈbɛkəm/ BEK-əm;[5] born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City.[6] Primarily a right winger and known for his range of passing, crossing ability and free-kick taking, Beckham has been hailed as one of the greatest and most recognisable midfielders of his generation, as well as one of the best free-kick takers of all time.[7][8][9] He won 19 major trophies in his career, and is the first English player to win league titles in four different countries: England, Spain, the United States and France.[10]
David Beckham
- Footballer
- Businessman
Nicola Peltz (daughter-in-law)
Ridgeway Rovers
→ Brimsdown Rovers (loan)
Team
→ Preston North End (loan)
→ AC Milan (loan)
→ AC Milan (loan)
Beckham's professional club career began with Manchester United, where he made his first-team debut in 1992 at age 17.[11] With United, he won the Premier League title six times, the FA Cup twice, the FA Charity Shield twice, the Intercontinental Cup and the UEFA Champions League in 1999.[11] He then played four seasons with Real Madrid,[12] winning the La Liga championship in his final season with the club.[13] In July 2007, Beckham signed a five-year contract with Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy.[14] While a Galaxy player, he spent two loan spells in Italy with AC Milan in 2009 and 2010. He became the first British footballer to play 100 UEFA Champions League games.[11] He retired in May 2013 after a 20-year career.[15]
In international football, Beckham made his England debut on 1 September 1996, at the age of 21. He was captain for six years, earning 58 caps during his tenure.[16][17] He made 115 career appearances in total, appearing at three FIFA World Cups in 1998, 2002 and 2006 as well as two UEFA European Championships in 2000 and 2004. Beckham held the England appearance record for an outfield player until 2016.
A global ambassador of football, Beckham is considered to be a British cultural icon.[18][19] He has been in a well publicised marriage to Victoria Beckham since 1999 and was consistently ranked among the highest earners in football, in 2013 being listed as the highest-paid player in the world having earned over $50 million in the previous twelve months.[20][21] Beckham was runner-up in the Ballon d'Or in 1999, twice runner-up for FIFA World Player of the Year (1999 and 2001) and in 2004 was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.[22][23][24] He was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2008, and the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2021.[25] He has been a UNICEF ambassador since 2005, and in 2015 he launched 7: The David Beckham UNICEF Fund.[26] In 2014, MLS announced that Beckham and a group of investors would own Inter Miami, which began playing in 2020.[27]
Early life
David Robert Joseph Beckham[28] was born on 2 May 1975 at Whipps Cross University Hospital in Leytonstone, London, England.[29] He is the son of Sandra Georgina (née West; b. 1949), a hairdresser, and David Edward Alan "Ted" Beckham (b. Edmonton, London, 1948), a kitchen fitter; the couple married in 1969 in the London Borough of Hackney.[30] He was given the middle name Robert in honour of Bobby Charlton, his father's favourite footballer.[31] He has an older sister, Lynne Georgina, and a younger sister, Joanne Louise. He attended Chingford County High School in Nevin Drive, Chingford.[32] In a 2007 interview, Beckham said that, "At school whenever the teachers asked, 'What do you want to do when you're older?' I'd say, 'I want to be a footballer.' And they'd say, 'No, what do you really want to do, for a job?' But that was the only thing I ever wanted to do."[33]
Beckham's maternal grandfather was Jewish,[34] and Beckham has referred to himself as "half Jewish"[35] and wrote in his autobiography "I've probably had more contact with Judaism than with any other religion".[36] In his book Both Feet on the Ground, Beckham stated that growing up he attended church every week with his parents, because that was the only way he could play football for their team.[37]
His parents were fanatical Manchester United supporters who frequently travelled 200 miles (320 km) to Old Trafford from London to attend the team's home matches.[38] David inherited his parents' love of Manchester United, and his main sporting passion was football. He attended one of Bobby Charlton's Soccer Schools in Manchester and won the chance to take part in a training session with Barcelona, as part of a talent competition.[39] He played for a local youth team called Ridgeway Rovers, which was coached by his father, Stuart Underwood, and Steve Kirby. Beckham was a Manchester United mascot for a match against West Ham United in 1986. Young Beckham had trials with his local club Leyton Orient, Norwich City and attended Tottenham Hotspur's school of excellence, though never represented the club in a match. During a two-year period in which Beckham played for Brimsdown Rovers' youth team, he was named Under-15 Player of the Year in 1990.[40] He also attended Bradenton Preparatory Academy, but signed schoolboy forms at Manchester United on his 14th birthday, and subsequently signed a Youth Training Scheme contract on 8 July 1991.[41] Beckham was a late developer and not selected to represent the England Schoolboys' team primarily on account of his small size.[42]
