BECK'S CLUB

MANCHESTER UNITED (1993-2003)



He was part of a group of young players at the club who guided the club to win the FA Youth Cup in May 1992, with Beckham scoring in the second leg[15] of the final against Crystal Palace. He made his first appearance for United's first-team that year, as a substitute in a League Cup match against Brighton & Hove Albion, and signed his first professional contract shortly afterwards. United reached the final of the Youth Cup again the following year, with Beckham playing in their defeat by Leeds United, and he won another medal in 1994 when the club's reserve team won their league.

He went to Preston North End on loan in the 1994–95 season to get some first team experience, then made his first Premier League appearance for Manchester United on 2 April 1995, in a goalless draw against Leeds United.

United manager Alex Ferguson had a great deal of confidence in the club's young players. When three of his first-team players left the club at the end of the 1994–95 season, his decision to let youth team players replace them instead of buying players from other clubs, drew a great deal of criticism. The criticism increased when United started the season with a 3–1 defeat at Aston Villa,[16] with Beckham scoring United's only goal of the game; however, United won their next five matches and the young players performed well. Beckham became a regular player on the team and helped them to win the Premiership and FA Cup double that season, scoring the winner in the semi-final against Chelsea and also taking the corner that Éric Cantona scored from in the FA Cup Final. Despite playing regularly for Manchester United, Beckham did not break into the England squad before Euro 96.[17]

At the beginning of the 96/97 season David Beckham was given the number 10 shirt that was last worn by Mark Hughes. In August 1996, Beckham became something of a household name when he scored a spectacular goal in a match against Wimbledon. With United leading 2–0, Beckham noticed that Wimbledon's goalkeeper Neil Sullivan was standing a long way out of his goal, and hit a shot from the halfway line that floated over the goalkeeper and into the net.[18]

With Eric Cantona retiring at the end of the 96/97 season, this left the coveted number 7 shirt free, and with Teddy Sheringham arriving from Tottenham Hotspur, Beckham left his number 10 shirt for Sheringham and picked up the number 7 jersey. Some fans had felt the number 7 shirt should be retired after Cantona had himself retired. United started the 1997–98 season well, but their performance deteriorated and the club finished the season in second place, behind Arsenal.[19]




REAL MADRID (2003-2007)




Beckham (right) and Zinedine Zidane at Real MadridManchester United had been keen to sell Beckham to Barcelona[26] but he refused to go there, instead signing a four-year contract with Real Madrid, worth a potential €35 million.[27] The transfer was completed on 1 July 2003 and made him the third Englishman to play for the club after Laurie Cunningham and Steve McManaman. It was speculated that Real's desire to sign him came from the merchandising opportunities he would bring as well as from his football ability. For example, Real Madrid shirts bearing his name and number sold out in Madrid on the day his transfer was completed and the club was expected to receive €624,000 for the sale of the shirts. Although Beckham had worn the number seven shirt for Manchester United and England, he was unable to wear it at Madrid as Raúl had the right to wear it written into his contract. He decided to wear number 23 instead, citing his admiration of basketball player Michael Jordan, who also wore the number 23 shirt, as the reason behind his decision.[28]

Real Madrid finished the season in fourth place, and were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League at the quarter-final stage. But, Beckham immediately became a favourite with the Real Madrid supporters, scoring five times in his first 16 matches (including scoring less than 3 minutes into his La Liga debut), but the team, whose club president expected them to win either the Spanish league or the Champions League each season, was not performing well. He had further problems in April 2004, when the British tabloid News of the World carried claims by his former personal assistant Rebecca Loos that he and Loos had had an extramarital affair. A week later, the Malaysian-born Australian model Sarah Marbeck claimed that she had slept with Beckham on two occasions. Beckham dismissed both accusations as "ludicrous".[29]




LA GALAXY(2007-present)




It was confirmed on 11 January 2007 that David Beckham would be leaving Real Madrid to join MLS team Los Angeles Galaxy. Beckham said, "After considering several options to stay in Madrid or join other major British and European teams, I have decided to join LA Galaxy.On 12 January, Beckham's official press conference was held in conjunction with the 2007 MLS SuperDraft.[37] Via satellite from Spain, Beckham told reporters "I'm coming there not to be a superstar. I'm coming there to be part of the team, to work hard and to hopefully win things. With me, it's about football. I'm coming there to make a difference. I'm coming there to play football... I'm not saying me [sic] coming over to the States is going to make soccer the biggest sport in America. That would be difficult to achieve. Baseball, basketball, American football, they've been around. But I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think I could make a difference."[38]

On 26 June, his first major U.S. ad campaign since finishing with Real Madrid made its debut via the web. "Futbol Meets Football" pairs him with the NFL's Reggie Bush in a 13-part video series, with additional television, radio, and online promotion by adidas planned throughout the summer season.His new contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy took effect on 1 July, and on 13 July, he was officially unveiled as a Galaxy player in a ceremony at the Home Depot Center. 5000 invited season-ticket holders and hundreds of international media attended it. Beckham chose to wear number 23 (as he did while at Real Madrid), explaining it was because NBA legend Michael Jordan also wore 23. It was announced that Galaxy jersey sales had already reached a record figure of over 250,000 prior to this formal introduction.[40]

Beckham was featured by the U.S. magazine Sports Illustrated for the first time as a Galaxy player and in his new uniform, on the cover of the 16 July 2007 edition,[41] and was also given his own weekly TV series, "David Beckham's Soccer USA" on Fox Soccer Channel.ESPN produced a 30-second TV promo for Beckham's arrival: "Hello, Goodbye" featuring a Son Volt cover of the Beatles composition of the same name,[43][44] depicting European fans' farewells and Americans' anticipation. The same network then featured him on the cover of the 30 July issue of ESPN The Magazine.[45]