David Beckham
| David Beckham OBE | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Beckham at the 2014 Wimbledon Championships
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | David Robert Joseph Beckham[1] 2 May 1975 [1] Leytonstone, London, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residence | Beckingham Palace (1999–2014) London, England (2014–present) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | British | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Organization | UNICEF, Malaria No More[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Agent | Simon Fuller (XIX Entertainment) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net worth | US$350 million (2013)[3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse(s) | Victoria Beckham (m. 1999) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parent(s) | Ted and Sandra Beckham | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | davidbeckham.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Association football career
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
David Robert Joseph Beckham, OBE[4] (/ˈbɛkəm/; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer. He played for Manchester United, Preston North End,Real Madrid, Milan, LA Galaxy, Paris Saint-Germain, and the England national team for which he held the appearance record for an outfield player until 2016 when Wayne Rooney surpassed his total. He is the first English player to win league titles in four countries: England, Spain, the United States and France. He announced his retirement in May 2013 after a 20-year career, during which he won 19 major trophies.[5][6]
Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending free-kicks as a right winger, Beckham was twice runner-up for FIFA World Player of the Year and in 2004 he was named in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.[7][8][9] He was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2008. A global ambassador for the sport, Beckham is regarded as a British cultural icon.[10][11]
Beckham's professional club career began with Manchester United, where he made his first-team debut in 1992 aged 17.[12] With United, he won the Premier League title six times, the FA Cup twice, and the UEFA Champions League in 1999.[12] He then played four seasons with Real Madrid,[13] winning the La Liga championship in his final season with the club.[14] In July 2007 Beckham signed a five-year contract with Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy.[15] While a Galaxy player, he spent two loan spells in Italy with Milan in 2009 and 2010. He was the first British footballer to play 100 UEFA Champions League games.[12]
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 Cuptournaments, the 1998, 2002 and 2006 editions and two UEFA European Championship tournaments, the 2000 and 2004 editions.
One of the most marketable athletes in sport, Beckham has consistently ranked among the highest earners in football, and in 2013 he was listed as the highest-paid player in the world, earning over $50 million in the previous 12 months.[18] He has been married to Victoria Beckham since 1999 and they have four children.[19] He has been a UNICEF UK ambassador since 2005, and in 2015 he launched 7: The David Beckham UNICEF Fund to help protect children in danger around the world.[20] In February 2014, MLS announced Beckham and a group of investors would own an expansion team in Miami, which would begin in 2016 or 2017.[21]
Contents
[hide]- 1Early life
- 2Club career
- 3International career
- 4Discipline
- 5David Beckham Academy
- 6Major League Soccer team in Miami
- 7Personal life
- 8Outside football
- 9Charitable work
- 10Appearances in films
- 11Records
- 12Tattoos
- 13Awards
- 14Career statistics
- 15Honours
- 16See also
- 17References
- 18Further reading
- 19External links
Early life
Beckham was born at Whipps Cross University Hospital in Leytonstone, London, England.[22] He is the son of Sandra Georgina (née West; b. 1949), a hairdresser, and David Edward Alan "Ted" Beckham (b. Edmonton, London, July–September 1948), a kitchen fitter, who married at theLondon Borough of Hackney in 1969.[23] He has an older sister, Lynne Georgina, and a younger sister, Joanne Louise. He regularly played football in Ridgeway Park, Chingford, as a child, and attended Chase Lane Primary School and Chingford County High School.[24] 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."[25] Beckham's maternal grandfather was Jewish,[26] and Beckham has referred to himself as "half Jewish"[27] and wrote in his autobiography "I've probably had more contact with Judaism than with any other religion".[28] In his book Both Feet on the Ground, he 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.[29]
His parents were fanatical Manchester United supporters who would frequently travel 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. He attended one of Bobby Charlton's football schools in Manchester and won the chance to take part in a training session with Barcelona, as part of a talent competition. He played for a local youth team called Ridgeway Rovers – 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. Tottenham Hotspur was the first club he played for. 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.[30] 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.[31]
