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Click for more photos
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Full Name
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David Robert
Joseph Beckham
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Date of Birth
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2nd May 1975
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Place of Birth
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Leytonstone, London
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Position
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Right Midfield
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Height
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6ft
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United debut
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23/9/1992
Brighton (A)
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Beckham's United Record
1992-2003
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Appearances
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Goals
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League
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237 (28)
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62
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FA Cup
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22 (2)
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6
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League Cup
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10 (2)
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1
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Europe
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79 (4)
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15
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Total
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348 (36)
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84
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Beckham's International Record
1996-2003
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59 Caps - 11
goals
1992 F.A. Youth
Cup
1996 F.A. Premier League
1996 F.A. Cup
1997 F.A. Premier League
1999 F.A. Premier League
1999 F.A. Cup
1999 European Champions League
1999 Intercontinental Cup
2000 F.A. Premier League
2001 F.A. Premier League
2003 F.A. Premier League
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What
can be written about David Beckham that hasn't already been
said? Undoubtedly the most famous footballer in Britain, if
not the world, Beckham is the most talked about, the most
copied, the most ridiculed and the most idolised. When he
changes his hairstyle or goes shopping it gets more coverage
in the media than many of the wars currently raging around
the world.
At Manchester United he became more than a player, he
became a global sporting icon. His pop-star wife and
superstar media lifestyle led to him becoming as much a
celebrity as footballer. His endless stream of commercial
sponsorship deals and self-promotion led to criticism of him
being more a marketing brand than a sportsman.
In the end the Beckham celebrity bandwagon threatened to
rival even the most famous football club on the planet. But
this should not cloud the fact that once he put on the red
shirt, United fans didn't care about any of it. What he did
on the pitch was all that mattered. And his football talents
are undeniable.
A fantastic passer and crosser of the ball, both long and
short with a variety and range of passing that was quite
phenomenal. One of the best in the world at hitting long,
defence-splitting passes, from out on the wings or centre of
midfield, his pinpoint crosses were deadly ammo for United's
forwards.
Beck's created a new type of wing play, no running or
dribbling was necessary for he could bypass defenders with a
lethal cross into the box. Few would argue he is the world's
best free-kick expert: the result of long hours spent on the
training pitch honing his talents to perfection. Possessed
with a ferocious shot, he can and did score many spectacular
goals. Add to this a high work rate with tireless
off-the-ball runs and back-tracking, constantly running and
moving, full of tireless energy right to the final whistle.
Beckham a player moulded by in the image of Ferguson,
determined to be a winner and fight till the final whistle.
The United fans loved most of all the fact Becks was red
through and through, born and bred. He was part of the
spirit of the club in the mid 1990's onwards that said "the
more you hate us the more we like sticking it up you and
proving you wrong." |
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Cockney Red |
After winning the Bobby Charlton
Soccer Skills finals aged 11 in 1986, Beckham was approached
by Manchester United scouts. At the age of 12 he was already
ear-marked as a star of the future by Fergie who used to
take the young superstar to meet the stars of the day in the
United dressing room when they played in London. His parents
decided he should finish his school years so it wasn't until
1991 that he became a trainee, before signing professional
in 1993. His debut came as a sub at Brighton in September
1992 but it was two years later that his first full starting
appearance came against Galatasaray in Nov 1994, a game in
which he scored. Beckham was later loaned out to Preston NE
for 5 games to gain first team experience and in April 1995
he made his full League debut against Leeds United at Old
Trafford.
Beckham soon rose to prominence in the 1996 season as one of
"Fergie's Fledglings" announcing his arrival as a 1st team
regular with a cracking 30 yard effort at Aston Villa. The
sale of Andrei Kanchelskis and the manager's faith in his
young stars gave Beckham his opportunity. Excelling in the
wide right position despite his preference for a central
role Becks was influential in helping United to the League
and FA Cup double. He scored a memorable brace at home to
Notts Forest to put United on track for the title and a
vital equaliser in the FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea.
He really hit the headlines in 1996-97 with his goal of the
season against Wimbledon, a 55 yard lob from the half-way
line on the opening day. Soon the media couldn't get enough
of him. After season of great performances, growing
reputation for spectacular long range goals and with his
girlfriend a Spice Girl (then at the height of their short
lived success), all added up to make David Beckham a
national celebrity.
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World
Cup scapegoat |
He helped the Reds
win the title comfortably again in 1997 and was fast-tracked
into the English national team. After a very disappointing
end to the 1998 season in which United lost the League to
Arsenal, Beckham's world fell apart in the personal
nightmare that became France 98. Despite scoring a brilliant
free-kick against Columbia, he was sent off against
Argentina in the quarter-finals for petulantly kicking Diego
Simeone.
A yellow card would have been apt punishment but the
referee produced a red. England went down to 10-men and drew
2-2, then lost on penalties. Media and rival fans harshly
blamed him for England's eventual exit, saying that, down to
10 men he had wrecked their hopes of winning the game and
the entire tournament. The midfielder now became a figure of
national hatred the like of which is rarely seen.
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Critics
eat their words |
The 1998-99 season
began with doubts over his future in English football and
his every touch of the ball greeted with boos from
opposition fans. In this dark time the only light came from
the club and fans who responded by giving him their total
unflinching support. It needed character in the face of
adversity and Beckham showed he had character in bucketloads.
Hell became heaven as he affirmed himself as one of the
world's best players during United's Treble triumph. The
ghosts of World Cup 1998 were well and truly laid to rest as
Beckham became the great footballer he was always meant to
be.
The season's highlights where his superb free kicks
against Leicester, Barcelona, Brondby, Everton and Aston
Villa. His quality of crossing was exceptional, providing
crucial goals against Inter Milan (his revenge on Simeone
and his growth as a sportsman), Liverpool and Barcelona
(home and away). Not forgetting his long range goal against
Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final and vital strike against
Spurs on the last day of the season.
A memorable image will always be the final minutes of
European Cup final, as United desperately chased an
equaliser, there was Beck's running his heart out to win a
corner - which he took and Sheringham scored. When Beckham
danced on the pitch with the European Cup in the Nou Camp
his redemption was complete.
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World
superstar |
The 1999-2000 season
was a mixed one for Beckham, as he undoubtedly played better
after February than he had all season. There was a barrage
of media attention and criticism at his lack of
goals/assists and it reached a peak just before United met
Leeds in February for a crucial Premiership game. Beckham
had missed a training session, resulting in a blazing
argument with Ferguson and subsequent dropping from the
team.
It seemed for a short while he could be sold with Arsenal,
Barcelona, Inter mentioned. But in the end Beckham backed
down accepting the managers' decision - and his form was
much the better for it. When he changed his haircut to a
skinhead before the game with Leicester it was front page
news and sporting the new barnet he went on a run of
goal-scoring that had eluded him previously. His crossing,
however, was as lethal as ever as was his famous free-kicks,
evident that season against Croatia Zagreb, Leicester, West
Ham and Southampton. Not forgetting of course, the sublime
solo goal against Real Madrid in the 3-2 defeat.
2000-2001 started off brilliantly for Beckham. He was on top
form and couldn't stop scoring: A great goal against
Bradford, free-kicks against Ipswich, West Ham, Leeds,
Coventry and the winner in the Manchester derby against City
after only 2 minutes. However the second half of the season
was disappointing as form dipped and he failed to recapture
the early highs, most notably in European games where his
wing play was neutralised.
The media obsession with him was growing with the release of
his own book, a special ITV documentary and his continuing
advertising work for Adidas and Pepsi. On United's trip to
the far East he was met with thousands of screaming fan's
not unlike the Beatles.
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England
Captain |
A huge personal
achievement was being appointed England Captain by Sven
Goran Eriksson in January 2001. It was role Beckham took on
with pride and enthusiasm and it coincided with a run of
goal-scoring form for him in the national side. He netted a
fine goal against Finland at Anfield in March, then,
sporting that famous Mohican haircut, a fabulous free-kick
against Mexico in May followed by another set-piece scorcher
against Greece in June. It at Old Trafford was against
Greece again in October 2001 where Beckham became a real
national hero. England were 2-1 down but his now legendary
last-minute free-kick made it 2-2 and meant qualification
for the 2002 World Cup Finals. The images of Captain Beckham
fighting for every ball and running himself into the ground
during that game will live long in the memory.
For United he had his most prolific scoring season ever
in 2001-2002 scoring 16 goals. The most spectacular efforts
came against Deportivo away - a 30 yard scorcher, West Ham -
were he scored a sublime 25 yard lob over David James and
Tottenham, where he scored a cracker in the 5-3 victory. He
also scored several free-kicks and took a couple of
penalties.
It was around the middle of the season however, that
Beckham looked tired and jaded. This resulted in Fergie
resting him for over a month. He returned much better in the
New Year but his season was ended prematurely with a
malicious tackle by Deportivo's Pedro Duschler. The broken
the metatarsal bone in his foot brought national panic
fearing Beckham would miss the World Cup.
Sadly for United his injury came at a critical part of
the season and the right wing was certainly unbalanced for
the Semi-Final against Leverkusen. The season for United and
Becks did end on a positive note though. On May 11th after
nearly a year of negotiation, Beckham signed a £90,000 a
week deal designed to keep him at Old Trafford until the end
of June, 2005.
In the Japan/Korea World Cup, Beckham-mania swept Japan
and he scored the memorable winning penalty against
Argentina to finally complete his revenge for France 98. He
captained England to the Quarter-final, where Brazil finally
ended their World Cup dream with a 2-1 defeat.
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The
Real deal |
The following season
Beckham and United got off to an in-different start. Goal
highlights were a clever lob at home to Birmingham, the
winner at Aston Villa, two against Real Madrid and a
cracking free kick at Everton on the final day in what
turned out to be his final game. A fractured rib injury in
November put him out of action and just like the season
before, Becks found himself on the bench for an extended
period.
Ole Solskjaer laid claim to right midfield position but
Beckham was soon starting again by January. It was in
February that the biggest moment of the season occurred,
when after the 2-0 defeat to Arsenal, a livid Sir Alex
Ferguson kicked a boot in the dressing room. The boot went
flying through the air and hit, of all players, David
Beckham, above the eye leaving a cut requiring stitches. The
incident was massive news and the media speculated it was
the final straw for given his past bust up's with Fergie.
Despite suspiciously ominous denials from the Spanish
team, rumours began of his transfer to Real Madrid. This
grew to new levels after Fergie dropped the England captain
for the mega-games against Arsenal and Madrid. It was clear
to all that Sir Alex no longer saw him as the essential
player he had once been. Fans had noticed in recent years
that he could be neutralised with clever deployment of wing
backs to prevent his crosses and passing game. It was once
unthinkable but now Manchester United could cope without
David Beckham.
David was clearly hurt at sitting on the bench and after
the Madrid defeat told his agent to tell the big clubs of
Europe he was ready to leave. When Becks scored at home game
to Charlton, his last game at Old Trafford - he seemed to
make an tearful goodbye to the fans. But within days he
declared he wasn't going anywhere and still loved playing
for Manchester United as he collected another Championship
medal.
However, it turned out to be a stalling tactic. In early
June 2003 United announced they had agreed a fee with
Barcelona for Beckham for £23 million knowing full well that
he was negotiating with Real Madrid.
As suspected all along, Beckham had wanted to go to the
Bernabeu giants and they wanted to add him to their "galaxy"
of stars - a clandestine deal was made as far back as early
May. The Barca deal was always a non-starter, the United PLC
simply wanted to bring the matter to a head, coupled with
the fact Sir Alex was all too willing to now cash in on his
star midfielder. Things progressed quickly and on the late
evening of June 17th news broke, United had agreed a fee
£24.5m with Real, eventually sealed on the 2nd July. |
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Conclusion |
Fans were divided on the impact of his departure, some
thought it was a serious error on the part of
Ferguson,
others believed the time was right for change. Playing for
one of the Red's greatest European rivals and leading
England for the foreseeable future, Beckham's story has
undoubtedly many chapters left to be written. What will be
interesting is the inevitable United v Madrid clash at
Champions League level. Playing for another against his old
club, his club - for Beck's will always be red at
heart, should be a momentous occasion.
While he might not be on a level with George Best, Bryan
Robson, Eric Cantona or even Roy Keane, David Beckham should
be looked upon as a Manchester United legend. He became the
most famous player in the world whilst playing for United at
the greatest period in the club's history so far. He
contributed greatly through his passing, free-kicks, goals
and by a having a true fan's passion for the club -
something missing from so many modern footballers. United
will go on with new heroes and new adventures.....but we'll
always remember, there's only one David Beckham.
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All pictures in the
profiles can be enlarged by clicking on the smaller version.
Stats do not include friendlies, Charity Shield or World Club tournaments.
Number in brackets ( ) represents appearances as substitute in addition to
starting appearances.
This information is kindly taken from
McCleery's
Manchester United Zone
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