David Beckham

Manchester United

1991–1994: Youth and early-career

Having signed for Manchester United as a trainee on 8 July 1991, Beckham was part of a group of young players, including Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes, who were coached by Eric Harrison, and helped the club win the FA Youth Cup in May 1992. Beckham scored Manchester United's second goal in the 30th minute of their 3–1 first-leg win of the final against Crystal Palace on 14 April 1992. In the second leg on 15 May, Beckham played a full 90-minutes of the fixture which ended 3–2 in favour of Manchester United and 6–3 on aggregate. Beckham's impact led to a first-team debut on 23 September 1992, as a substitute for Andrei Kanchelskis in a League Cup match against Brighton & Hove Albion. Shortly afterwards, Beckham signed as a professional on 23 January 1993. Manchester United again reached the final of the FA Youth Cup, where they faced Leeds United. The first leg was played on 10 May 1993, where Beckham started in Manchester United's 2–0 home loss but was replaced by substitute Robbie Savage. In the second leg on 13 May 1993, Beckham played the full 90 minutes of Manchester United's 2–1 defeat, which gave Leeds United a 4–1 aggregate score. Beckham also received honours with the club's reserve team when the squad won the league in 1994. In September 1994, Beckham made his first full appearance in the club's first team against Port Vale in a League Cup fixture. On 7…

On 1 September 1996, Beckham made his first appearance for England in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Moldova. In June 1997, Beckham participated in the Tournoi de France, the friendly international football tournament held in France as a warm-up to the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

1998 FIFA World Cup

Beckham played in all of England's qualifying matches for the 1998 FIFA World Cup and was part of the 23-man squad for the finals in France, but the team's manager Glenn Hoddle publicly accused him of not concentrating on the tournament, and he did not start in either of England's first two games. He was picked for the third game against Colombia and scored with a bending 30 yd (27 m) free kick in a 2–0 victory, which was his first goal for England. In the second round (last 16) of that competition, he received a red card in England's match against Argentina. Beckham, after having been fouled by Diego Simeone, kicked Simeone while lying on the ground, striking him on the calf. Sports Illustrated was critical of the Argentinian's theatrics in that incident, stating that Simeone first delivered a "heavy-handed challenge" on Beckham, and then "fell like a ton of bricks" when Beckham retaliated. Simeone later admitted to trying to get Beckham sent off by over-reacting to the kick and then, along with other members of his team, urging the referee to send Beckham off. The match finished in a draw, and England were eliminated in a penalty shootout. Many supporters and…

David Robert Joseph Beckham was born on 2 May 1975 at Whipps Cross University Hospital in Leytonstone, London, England. He is the son of Sandra Georgina (née West), a hairdresser, and David Edward Alan "Ted" Beckham, a kitchen fitter; the couple married in 1969 in the London Borough of Hackney. They divorced in 2002 after 33 years of marriage. He was given the middle name Robert in honour of Bobby Charlton, his father's favourite footballer. He has an older sister, Lynne Georgina, and a younger sister, Joanne Louise. Beckham's maternal grandfather was Jewish. Beckham has referred to himself as "half Jewish" and wrote in his autobiography, "I've probably had more contact with Judaism than with any other religion". In his book Both Feet on the Ground, Beckham states that growing up he attended church every week with his parents, because that was the only way he could play football for their team. His parents were fanatical Manchester United supporters who frequently travelled 200 miles (322 km) to Old Trafford from London to attend the team's home matches. David inherited his parents' love of Manchester United, and his main sporting passion was football. In a 2007 interview, Beckham said, "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." Beckham was a late developer and not selected to…

In 1997, Beckham started dating Victoria Adams after she attended a Manchester United match. She was famously known as "Posh Spice" of the pop music group Spice Girls, one of Britain's top pop groups at the time, and his team was also enjoying a great run of success. Their relationship instantly attracted a great deal of media attention. The couple were dubbed "Posh and Becks" by the media. On 4 July 1999, they were married by the Bishop of Cork, Paul Colton, at Luttrellstown Castle in Ireland. Beckham's teammate Gary Neville was the best man, and the couple's four-month-old son, Brooklyn, was the ring bearer. The media were kept away from the ceremony, as the Beckhams had an exclusive deal with OK! Magazine, but newspapers were able to obtain photographs of them sitting on golden thrones. 437 staff were employed for the wedding reception, which was estimated to have cost £500,000. David and Victoria have four children: sons Brooklyn Joseph (born 4 March 1999 in London), Romeo James (born 1 September 2002 in London) and Cruz David (born 20 February 2005 in Madrid), and daughter Harper Seven (born 10 July 2011 in Los Angeles). Elton John and David Furnish are reportedly the godparents to Brooklyn and Romeo Beckham; their godmother is Elizabeth Hurley. Cruz and Harper were baptised Catholic at Holy Trinity, Chipping Norton; among their godparents were Eva Longoria and Marc Anthony. Beckham's three sons have all played football in the Arsenal academy. Brooklyn played football…