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English Football Legends Series

A winger or central midfielder renowned for his superb distribution, David Beckham went from humble beginnings to become an icon of the world game.

David Beckham

Clubs: Manchester United, Real Madrid, LA Galaxy,
AC Milan(loan)

Position: Winger / Midfielder

Appearances*: 456

Goals*: 86

Honours: Premier League, 6
FA Cup, 2
League Cup, 2
UEFA Champions League, 1
La Liga, 1
Spanish Cup, 1

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* League appearances and goals only

Although born in London, Beckham grew up as a Manchester United supporter, and dreamed of one day playing for the Old Trafford club.

Manchester United

However, his first trial was at his local club Leyton Orient, and he also had a trial with Norwich City and attended Tottenham's School of Excellence before realising his dream by signing schoolboy terms with Manchester United on his 14th birthday.

He subsequently signed a Youth Training Scheme contract on 8 July 1991, becoming part the successful team that won the FA Youth Cup in May 1992.

He made his first-team debut that year, coming on as a substitute in a League Cup match against Brighton & Hove Albion.

Shortly afterwards, he signed his first professional contract, although he continued to play most of his football in the youth and reserve teams.

On 7 December 1994, David Beckham made his UEFA Champions League debut, scoring in a 4-0 victory over Galatasaray. However, United failed to progress beyond the group stage.

Beckham was sent out on loan to Preston North End during the 1994/95 season, and turned in a number of impressive performances, scoring two goals in five appearances, including one directly from a corner kick.

He finally made his Premier League debut for Manchester United on 2 April 1995, in a 0-0 draw with Leeds United.

In the 1995 close season, United allowed senior players Mark Hughes, Paul Ince, and Andrei Kanchelskis to leave the club and, after missing out on a number of transfer targets, promoted youngsters Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, Gary Neville, and Phil Neville, along with David Beckham, to the first team squad.

United started the season with a 3-1 defeat at Aston Villa, drawing widespread criticism in the media - Match of the Day pundit, Alan Hansen famously proclaiming that "you won't win anything with kids".

The Double

However, they won their next five matches and the young players performed admirably as United hauled in a 12-point Newcastle lead, to win the Premier League title.

They also won the FA Cup, with Beckham playing a prominent role, scoring the winner in the semi-final against Chelsea and taking the corner from which Eric Cantona scored the winner, in the Final against Liverpool.

On the first day of the 1996/97 Premier League season, David Beckham became a household name when he scored a spectacular goal from the halfway line against Wimbledon.

That season, he helped United retain the Premier League title, and was named PFA Young Player of the Year. He also made his England debut.

World Cup 1998

He played in all England's qualifying games for France '98, and was a member of the World Cup squad, scoring in the last group game.

However, in the first knockout round, Beckham was sent off after petulantly kicking out at Argentina's Deigo Simeone. The match finished in a draw and England went out on penalties.

The media, and many fans, blamed Beckham for England's exit, and when the new season started he was a target for the boo-boys.

United, though got off to a good start, before poor form in the second half of the season handed the title to Arsenal.

The Treble

In the 1998/99 season, David Beckham was part of the United team that won a unique treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League.

After winning the title by a point from Arsenal, United completed a routine 2-0 victory over Newcastle in the FA Cup final.

Four days later they faced Bayern Munich in the Champions League final.

With 90 minutes on the clock Bayern led 1-0 but, in the 3 minutes of added time, United struck twice through Sheringham and Solskjaer, both assists coming from Beckham corners.

That year, he finished runner up to Rivaldo in both the European Footballer of the Year and FIFA World Player of the Year awards.

Fallout with Ferguson

However, by the early 2000s, the relationship between Beckham and United boss Alex Ferguson had begun to deteriorate, as Beckham's celebrity status and outside commitments took his focus away from football.

Ferguson would later criticize Beckham in his autobiography, claiming he had not been "fair to his teammates".

Beckham, though had a good season, and helped United win the Premier League by a record 18-point margin.

Captain of England

In November 2002, David Beckham was appointed England captain by stand-in manager Peter Taylor, and kept the role under new boss Sven Goran Eriksson.

Back at United, he was a key player in the club's third successive league title in 2000/01, only the fourth time that any club had achieved three league titles in a row.

On 6 October 2001, David Beckham scored the goal that ensured England's qualification for the 2002 World Cup, but in the run-up to the tournament he suffered a foot injury which cast doubts on his participation in the finals.

The injury kept him out of action for the rest of the season as United surrendered the Premier League title to Arsenal and were knocked out of the Champions League in the semi-finals by Bayer Leverkusen.

Beckham did eventually make the World Cup finals, although he was not fully fit. England went out in the quarter-finals, to Brazil.

In May, he signed a new three-year contract with United following protracted negotiations, mainly concerning image rights.

Beckham was injured again early in the 2002/03 season, and when he returned to fitness, he struggled to regain his place in the side.

Meanwhile, his relationship with Alex Ferguson continued to worsen. In 15 February 2003, following an FA Cup defeat to Arsenal, a furious Ferguson kicked a boot that struck Beckham in the face, causing a cut over his eye that required stitches.

Although United had started the season poorly, a great second half of the season saw them win, what would be, David Beckham's last title in England.

On 13 June 2003, he was awarded an OBE for services to football, by 1 July he had left to sign for Real Madrid.

Beckham had made 265 Premier league appearances for United and scored 61 goals. He'd also played 81 Champions league games, scoring 15 times.

He'd won six Premier League titles, two FA Cups, one European Cup, and one Intercontinental Cup, in his 12 years at the club.

Real Madrid

David Beckham was introduced as a Madrid player to much fanfare on 2 July 2003. There were 500 accredited journalists from 25 countries in attendance as club legend Alfredo di Stefano handed him his club shirt with number 23 on the back.

In late July 2003, Real went on a tour of the Far East which sparked mass hysteria and netted the club a fortune in David Beckham shirt sales.

Beckham had a good start to his Real career, scoring as the club captured the season-opening, Spanish Super Cup.

He also scored on his La Liga debut, but the season was not a success. Real were runners up in the Copa del Rey, were knocked out in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, and finished fourth in the league. Manager Carlos Queiroz was fired.

The next season began with Jose Antonio Camacho at the helm, but he resigned after just three matches, and his assistant Mariano Garcia Remon took over.

By Christmas 2004, the team had its third manager of the campaign when Vanderlei Luxemburgo took charge.

With all these disruptions, Real unsurprisingly failed to win the title, again finishing as runners-up.

The following season they were again second, Barcelona winning by 12 points.

In the off-season, attention turned to World Cup 2006, where Beckham captained his country.

But England were again eliminated in the quarter-finals, and after the tournament he announced his resignation as captain, but stated that he wanted to continue as a player.

Back at Real, Fabio Capello, was appointed manager, and he soon dropped Beckham in favour of Jose Antonio Reyes.

On 10 January 2007, it was announced that Beckham would leave at the end of the season, to join MLS club LA Galaxy, and Capello stated publicly on 13 January that David Beckham had played his last game for Real.

However, a month later, the manager backtracked and included Beckham in the side to play against Real Sociedad. He responded by scoring a spectacular opening goal as Real Madrid won 2-1.

Beckham played his last Real Madrid game on 17 June 2007, in a 3-1 win over RCD Mallorca, that sealed the title - his first in Spain

Beckham had been in such great form for the title run-in, that Real tried to get him out of his LA Galaxy contract. However, their attempts were unsuccessful.

Los Angeles Galaxy

Beckham began his MLS career with a 12-minute cameo in a friendly against Chelsea, on 21 July 2007.

His first season in the MLS was plagued by injuries and despite reaching the Supaliga final, Galaxy failed to make the playoffs.

The following season was again disappointing, and in October 2008, it was announced that Beckham would join AC Milan on loan, in a bid to extend his England career.

Milan

He made his Serie A debut against Roma on 11 January 2009 in a 2-2 draw.

Beckham's form with Milan was impressive, and after extending his initial loan he announced, on 4 February, that he was seeking a permanent move to Italy.

However, Milan, were not prepared to meet Galaxy's valuation of US$10 million.

Back at Galaxy

David Beckham returned to LA to face a barrage of anger from the Galaxy fans, but on the pitch it was a more successful season, with the club winning the 2009 Western Conference final after a 2-0 victory over Houston Dynamo.

At the end of 2009 MLS season, he returned to Milan and it was during this second spell that he played for the first time against former club Manchester United.

However, United dominated Milan in the Champions League tie, winning 7-2 on aggregate.

In Milan's next game, Beckham suffered a torn Achilles tendon, which ruled him out of the 2010 World Cup. He went to the tournament instead as a member of Fabio Capello's back-room staff.

Beckham has stated that he hopes to resume both his club and international careers, once he recovers from his latest injury set-back.

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