David Robert Joseph Beckham, born London, England, May 2, 1975. David Beckham enjoyed an extremely successful career as a midfielder for Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, AC Milan, and Paris Saint-Germain. An England player, Beckham notched up an astonishing 115 senior appearances under managers Glenn Hoddle, Kevin Keegan, Sven Goran Eriksson, Steve McClaren, and Fabio Capello between 1996 and 2009.
Londoner David Beckham joined Manchester United as a trainee in the summer of 1991 at the age of 16. Come the 1992-93 season and he made his debut in a 1-1 draw with League Division Two side Brighton and Hove Albion at Goldstone Ground in the League Cup Second Round on the 23rd of September 1992. Following a loan spell with League Division Three team Preston North End during the 1994–95 season, he made his Premier League debut for Manchester United in a 0-0 draw to bitter enemies Leeds United at Old Trafford on the 2nd of April 1995, and helped The Reds to Premiership as well as FA Cup triumphs the following season. At the start of the 1996–97 campaign, he was handed the sought after number ten jersey by manager Alex Ferguson, and the midfield starlet repaid the gesture by scoring a spectacular goal from the halfway line in the 3-0 win against Wimbledon at Selhurst Park on the opening day of the season. Defending FA Carling Premiership Champions and FA Cup Winners Manchester United went into a well deserved 1-0 lead thanks to a goal from ever dangerous frontrunner Eric Cantona in the 25th minute, and the visitors were never really threathened from that point onwards. The Crazy Gang were unable to develop any fluency to their play and Vinny Jones and his company of merry men went further behind during the first period of the tie when Denis Irwin managed to find the net to make it 2-0 to the visiting side seven minutes before the sound of the half time signal. Then in the very last minute of normal playing time, Beckham powered a magnificent long distance shot from his own half over hapless netminder Neil Sullivan and into the back of the goal to make the result 3-0 to United, and a few weeks later he was voted Premier League Player of the Month for August. An excellent crosser and passer, he was capable of putting the ball exactly where he wanted it and he executed one of the hardest free kicks ever in the long and proud history of Manchester United. And although there were moments that verged on the moronic, his professional soccer career was most consistent and highly successful.
On the 29th of September 2001, David Beckham inspired his Manchester United team to a sensational Premier League win over Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane as they managed to produce an astonishing and unexpected comeback against Spurs. After being three goals down, the guests turned the tussle around to thump The Lilywhites 5-3 thanks to goals from Andrew Cole, Laurent Blanc, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Juan Sebastian Veron, and Beckham himself. The Manchester United team on that day contained Fabien Barthez, Gary Neville, Denis Irwin, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes, Juan Veron, Andy Cole, Laurent Blanc, Ronny Johnsen, David Beckham, and Ruud van Nistelrooy, while Tottenham fielded a side containing Neil Sullivan, Dean Richards, Chris Perry, Ledley King, Mauricio Taricco, Darren Anderton, Christian Ziege, Steffen Freund, Gus Poyet, Les Ferdinand, and Teddy Sheringham. The defending Premier League Champions found themselves as much as three goals down at the half time break after Richards, Ferdinand, and Ziege had recorded one goal apiece for Tottenham. But the second frame of the game turned out to be quite another story as the visitors hit back to claim a fully deserved 5-3 success against Glenn Hoddle´s side. The North Londoners went into an early first half lead when Dean Richards converted an excellently executed flag kick from Christian Ziege in the 15th minute of the game. A mere ten minutes later in the top flight contest, Gus Poyet elegantly chipped the ball over the opposition´s defence for Les Ferdinand who found the back of the goal with a low shot past away custodian Fabien Barthez. The South American playmaker provided another assist as he crossed for the completely unmarked Ziege who nodded the ball home from a few yards out to make the scoreboard at White Hart Lane reflect a seemingly solid 3-0 advantage to Tottenham after 45 minutes. Whatever Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson told his men during the half time break, it most definitely did the trick. Within the very first minute of the second half, Beckham passed the ball to overlapping Neville who delivered an exquisite cross that was headed into the back of the net by Cole. The Mancunians continued to press high and they were rewarded when they won a corner kick from which Blanc rose more or less unchallenged to head into the Spurs net after 58 minutes of action. And fourteen minutes later, Manchester United had their hard earned equalising goal when Denis Irwin replacement Mikael Silvestre accurately crossed for Van Nistelrooy who had no problems whatsoever in heading the ball into the net from close range. Then in 76th minute of the Premiership fixture, Scholes and super substitute Ole Gunnar Solskjaer brilliantly combined to set free Veron whose well placed shot went inside the far post. Then, with just three minutes remaining on referee Jeff Winter´s waterproof watch, Solskjaer found Beckham at the edge of the eighteen-yard area, and the midfielder made no mistake as he rifled the ball past home goalkeeper Neil Sullivan to make it 5-3 to United.
David Beckham proceeded to play 394 first team matches wearing the legendary red shirt before the free running midfielder joined forces with Real Madrid for an estimated transfer fee of £25 million at the end of the 2002-03 season after he had fallen out with firebrand head coach Sir Alex Ferguson. Beckham, who won six Premier League titles, two FA Cups, two FA Community Shields, one UEFA Champions League, and one Intercontinental Cup during his years in Manchester, later openly told the press that he very much regretted leaving the club, however, and that he never should have gone anywhere else. After settling down at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, he was handed his Real Madrid debut by former Manchester United assistent manager Carlos Queiroz in a 4-0 friendly fixture triumph against China Dragons in front of a 50,000 audience at the Workers Stadium in Beijing on the 2nd of of August 2003, and went on to notch up 32 Spanish Premier League outings for the white shirts during his first season at the club. While in Madrid, Beckham managed to make 116 La Liga appearances for Generalissimo Francisco Franco´s old team and he won the Spanish Premier League in 2007 and the Spanish Super Cup in 2003 with The Meringues before he agreed to put pen to paper on a highly lucrative five-year deal with Major Soccer League outfit Los Angeles Galaxy in the summer of 2007. Following his high profile arrival in The City of Angels, the player turned pop star debuted for Los Galacticos when he took the field as a second half substitute for former Portland Timbers attacker Alan Gordon in a 1-0 friendly game defeat against English Premier League club Chelsea at the 27,000 capacity Home Depot Center in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson on the 21st of July 2007. At the end of the 2007 Major Soccer League campaign, he spent a three-week training period with Arsene Wenger´s Arsenal first team squad in January 2008 until he returned to Los Angeles Galaxy for the pre-season preparations at the end of the month, and the next year he went out on loan to Italian Serie A club Milan in order to retain match fitness ahead of England’s upcoming World Cup Qualifiers. Beckham then went back to Los Angeles Galaxy during the summer to play the latter half of the Major Soccer League season, but he returned to Silvio Berlusconi´s Milan for a second loan period in January 2010. After appearing in well over 100 first team matches for Los Angeles Galaxy between 2007 and 2012, he eventually agreed to a five-month deal with French Premier League club Paris Saint-Germain where he would finish off his professional playing days at the end of the 2012–13 campaign.
On an international level, David Beckham won a total of 115 senior caps for England following his full debut in a 3-0 World Cup Qualifier victory against Moldova at Stadionul Republican in Chisinau on the 1st of September 1996. During the 1998 France World Cup, he notched up his first goal for his country in the 2-0 triumph over Colombia at Stade Bollaert-Delelis in Lens on the 26th of June, but he hit an all time career low in the same tournament only four days later, when he found himself on the receiving end of a straight red card from the referee for kicking out at aspiring actor and midfielder Diego Simeone of Internazionale and Argentina in a 2-2 draw against The White and Sky Blue at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Etienne. Always rising to the occasion, Beckham went on to score one of his most important goals for England when he found the net with an unstoppable long distance free kick in a closely contested 2-2 World Cup Qualifier draw with Greece at Old Trafford on the 6th of October 2001. Aris attacker Angelos Charisteas opened the scoring account for The Sky Blue White in the 36th minute of the drama at The Theatre of Dreams before Robbie Fowler replacement Teddy Sheringham equalised for the white shirts with a looping headed goal after 68 minutes of play, only for Demis Nikolaidis of AEK Athens to put the aggressive visitors back in front a mere minute later. Then, in the 93rd minute of the tie, the referee awarded the desperate home side a free which was to be taken by none other than Beckham. The Lord Byron of international football stepped up to take the subsequent kick which he blasted past Panathinaikos goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidi and into the back of the net at the Stretford End to avoid something of a Greek tragedy and to send The Three Lions to the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea. An age defying performer, he served his national team for over a decade and made his final international appearance for his nation in a 3-0 World Cup Qualifier victory over Belarus at Wembley on the 14th of October 2009. Beyond the shadow of any doubt, he was destined for big time football and deservedly received an OBE from HM the Queen on the 27th of November 2003. A true genius on the soccer field, David Beckham was also known for bending the ball like David Beckham. Andrew Parker: “Despite his high profile and the ridicule he risks, David Beckham stands resolute: Bucking the macho trend, setting his own agenda, showing support for his wife, and playing the perfect father.” David Beckham Playing Career: Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain. Managing Career: None.