David Beckham

Sir David Robert Joseph Beckham (born 2 May 1975) is an English former footballer who now serves as president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City F.C.. He played mainly as a right midfielder, famed for his passing range, crossing, and set-piece ability, and is regarded as one of the finest players of his era and among the greatest set-piece specialists ever. Over his career, he collected 19 major trophies and remains the only English footballer to win league titles in four nations: England, France, Spain, and the United States.

Beckham started his professional club career at Manchester United, debuting in 1992 at age 17. With United, he secured six Premier League titles, two FA Cups, two FA Charity Shields, the Intercontinental Cup, and the 1999 UEFA Champions League. He later spent four seasons at Real Madrid, winning La Liga in his final year there. In July 2007, he signed a five-year deal with MLS side LA Galaxy, a move widely seen as historic for American soccer. While with the Galaxy, he had two loan spells at AC Milan in 2009 and 2010, becoming the first British footballer to reach 100 Champions League appearances. He returned to LA Galaxy and won the MLS Cup in 2011 and 2012. After a four-month stint at Paris Saint-Germain, he retired in May 2013, ending a 21-year playing career.

On the international stage, Beckham debuted for England on 1 September 1996 at age 21. He captained the side for six years, earning 58 caps in that role, and made 115 total appearances across three World Cups (1998, 2002, 2006) and two European Championships (2000, 2004). He held the England appearance record for an outfield player until 2016.

A global football ambassador, Beckham is also a British cultural icon. He has been married to Victoria Beckham since 1999, and was consistently among football’s highest earners, named the world’s top-paid player in 2013. He finished runner-up for the Ballon d’Or in 1999, twice runner-up for FIFA World Player of the Year (1999 and 2001), and was included in Pelé’s FIFA 100 list of the greatest living players in 2004. He entered the English Football Hall of Fame in 2008 and the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2021. A UNICEF ambassador since 2005, he launched the 7: The David Beckham UNICEF Fund in 2015. In 2014, MLS announced that Beckham and a group of investors would own Inter Miami, which began play in 2020.

David Robert Joseph Beckham was born on 2 May 1975 at Whipps Cross University Hospital in Leytonstone, London. His mother, Sandra Georgina, was a hairdresser; his father, David Edward Alan "Ted" Beckham, was a kitchen fitter. They married in 1969 in Hackney and divorced in 2002 after 33 years. His middle name Robert honours Bobby Charlton, his father’s favourite footballer. He has an older sister, Lynne Georgina, and a younger sister, Joanne Louise. His maternal grandfather was Jewish; Beckham has called himself "half Jewish" and noted in his autobiography that he has had more contact with Judaism than any other religion. In his book *Both Feet on the Ground*, he wrote that he attended church weekly with his parents because that was the only way he could play football for their team.

His parents were devoted Manchester United supporters who regularly travelled from London to Old Trafford for home matches. David inherited their passion, and football was his main sporting love. In a 2007 interview, he recalled that when teachers asked what he wanted to do, he always answered, “I want to be a footballer,” and they would press him for a real job—but that was all he ever wanted. A late developer, he was not picked for the England Schoolboys team mainly due to his small size. He attended one of Bobby Charlton’s Soccer Schools in Manchester and, through a talent competition, earned a training session with Barcelona. He played for local youth side Ridgeway Rovers, coached by his father along with Stuart Underwood and Steve Kirby. In 1986, he was a Manchester United mascot for a match against West Ham United. He had trials with Leyton Orient and Norwich City, and attended Tottenham Hotspur’s school of excellence without playing for the club. During two years with Brimsdown Rovers’ youth team, he was named Under-15 Player of the Year in 1990. He attended Chingford County High School and Bradenton Preparatory Academy, signed schoolboy forms with Manchester United on his 14th birthday, and then a Youth Training Scheme contract on 8 July 1991.

Beckham signed as a Manchester United trainee on 8 July 1991. He was part of a young group—including Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Nicky Butt, and Paul Scholes—coached by Eric Harrison, and helped United win the FA Youth Cup in May 1992. In the first leg of the final against Crystal Palace on 14 April 1992, he scored United’s second goal in the 30th minute of a 3–1 win. In the second leg on 15 May, he played the full 90 minutes as United won 3–2, taking the aggregate to 6–3. His performances earned him a first-team debut on 23 September 1992, coming on as a substitute for Andrei Kanchelskis.