49 Fun Facts About David Beckham

In which part of London was Beckham born in 1975?

Leytonstone, at Whipps Cross Hospital. He grew up a long way from Old Trafford, but his parents were devoted Manchester United supporters and he followed them.

Beckham's middle name Robert honours which footballer, his father's favourite?

He later attended one of Bobby Charlton's Soccer Schools and received his honorary 100th cap from him.

In September 2022 Beckham queued for about 12 hours with the public to pay his respects to whom?

The Queen. Beckham joined the public queue for Elizabeth II's lying in state at 2am, in a flat cap, and said he was there on behalf of his royalist grandparents.

Which Manchester United team-mate was best man at Beckham's wedding in 1999?

Gary Neville was best man at a wedding so tightly guarded that even the couple's baby son wore a security tag, yet a tabloid still beat the magazine that had bought the photo rights.

Beckham's two stoppage-time corners in the 1999 Champions League final led to goals by Teddy Sheringham and which other substitute?

Ole Gunnar Solskjær poked in the winner from the second corner, moments after Sheringham had equalised from the first; United had been losing to Bayern Munich since the opening minutes.

Beckham became an ambassador in 2005 for which organisation?

UNICEF. To mark his tenth year in the role, he and the children's agency launched a fund in 2015 called 7, the number he wore at Manchester United.

Against which country did Beckham miss from the spot in the Euro 2004 quarter-final shoot-out?

Portugal. Taking England's first kick, Beckham seemed to lose his footing on the sandy turf and sent the ball high over the bar; England lost the shoot-out 6–5.

To which club was Beckham loaned in 1994–95 for first-team experience?

Preston North End: Alex Ferguson felt the teenager's football education wasn't finished and sent him there for a month, during which he scored twice in five games, once straight from a corner.

Against which club did Beckham score from the halfway line on the opening day of 1996–97?

Wimbledon. With United 2–0 up, Beckham saw goalkeeper Neil Sullivan off his line and lobbed him from the halfway line; he later wrote that the shot 'kicked open the door to the rest of my life'.

Whose sudden retirement in 1997 let Beckham swap Manchester United's number 10 shirt for the number 7?

Eric Cantona shocked the club by quitting football at 30, days after the 1996–97 season ended, and Beckham, who had spent that season in the 10, took over the shirt once worn by George Best.

Which award did Beckham's peers vote him in 1996–97?

PFA Young Player of the Year: the season had begun with his goal from the halfway line, which made him a household name, and within three weeks he had won his first England cap.

In the 1999 Champions League final, Beckham played out of position in which role?

Central midfield: with Roy Keane and Paul Scholes both suspended, Alex Ferguson moved Beckham inside to help control the ball, and it was his two stoppage-time corners that turned the final.

Beckham finished runner-up to which player for the 1999 Ballon d'Or?

Rivaldo, the Brazilian forward, won the vote; Beckham came second after a season in which his corners set up both goals in the Champions League final and Manchester United won the Treble.

Which England manager dropped Beckham in 2006, only to recall him the following year?

Steve McClaren left him out of his first squad, with Beckham on 94 caps and his England career seemingly over; nine months later McClaren called him back, and he went on to win 115.

In 2000 Alex Ferguson dropped Beckham for a match at Leeds for what?

Missing training for his sick son: Beckham stayed at home when Brooklyn fell ill, and an unimpressed Ferguson left him out of the match at Leeds two days later, which United won 1–0 without him.

Which bone did Beckham break in April 2002, putting his World Cup place in doubt?

Metatarsal: a bone in his left foot, broken by Aldo Duscher's tackle in a Champions League tie seven weeks before the World Cup, where Beckham played on but was never fully fit.

The famous 2003 dressing-room boot incident followed an FA Cup defeat to which club?

Arsenal had just knocked United out of the FA Cup when Alex Ferguson kicked a stray boot across the dressing room and cut Beckham above the eye; four months later he was sold to Real Madrid.

Beckham was a six-time champion with Manchester United, but which domestic trophy eluded him there?

The League Cup: the closest he came was the 2003 final in Cardiff, which United lost 2–0 to Liverpool a few months before he left for Spain.

Which club had announced a deal for Beckham in 2003 before he chose Real Madrid instead?

Barcelona: Joan Laporta had run for club president on a promise to sign Beckham, and when Beckham went to their great rivals instead, Laporta bought Ronaldinho.

Beckham's 2003 move to Real Madrid made him the latest of president Florentino Pérez's big-name signings, known as what?

The Galácticos: after Figo, Zidane and Ronaldo came Beckham, unveiled to more than 500 journalists and handed his white shirt by Alfredo Di Stéfano, the club's star of the 1950s.

Beckham chose the number 23 shirt at Real Madrid in tribute to which sportsman?

Michael Jordan: with the 7 he had worn in Manchester already on the back of Madrid's captain Raúl, Beckham took his basketball hero's 23, and kept it when he moved to Los Angeles.

Which Englishman, at Real Madrid since 1999, moved on within weeks of Beckham's arrival in 2003?

Steve McManaman, twice a Champions League winner in his four years in Spain, lost his place to the new signing and left for Manchester City at the end of that August.

Under which coach did Beckham finally win La Liga with Real Madrid, in 2006–07?

Fabio Capello announced that Beckham had played his last game for the club once he agreed to join LA Galaxy, watched him keep training, put him back in the team a month later, and won the title on the final day.

Which manager left Beckham out of Great Britain's football squad for the London 2012 Olympics?

Stuart Pearce put Beckham on his provisional list, then left him out of the final 18, saying no manager picks on sentiment, even though Beckham had helped London win the right to stage the Games.

Which MLS rule, brought in as Beckham joined LA Galaxy in 2007, is nicknamed the 'Beckham Rule'?

The Designated Player Rule lets a club pay a star outside the league's salary cap. It began with one such player a team, with Beckham in mind, and soon grew to allow three.

Which MLS club grew out of a contract clause that let Beckham buy an expansion team at a cut price?

Inter Miami. The clause fixed Beckham's price at US$25 million while other new teams' fees climbed past $300 million; he took up the option in 2014, and the club finally played its first match in 2020.

Beckham made his Galaxy debut in a 2007 friendly against which English club?

Chelsea won 1–0, and the much-hyped debut lasted less than a quarter of an hour: Beckham, nursing an injured ankle, came on only for the closing stages.

With which Italian club did Beckham spend two loan spells from LA Galaxy, in 2009 and 2010?

AC Milan. Beckham went there in the MLS close season to stay fit and keep his England place, wore the unfamiliar number 32, and played well enough that he asked to make the move permanent.

Which injury in March 2010 ruled Beckham out of that year's World Cup?

A torn Achilles tendon, suffered with no one near him in a league match in Italy; a surgeon in Finland operated the next day and said it would be six months before he was kicking again, ending his hopes of a fourth World Cup.

What did Beckham drape around his neck at Old Trafford in 2010?

A green-and-gold anti-Glazer scarf: thousands of United fans wore the colours that night in protest at the club's owners, and Beckham, there with the visitors, put one on as he left the pitch, then said the protests were not his business.

Beckham's LA Galaxy beat which club in both the 2011 and 2012 MLS Cup finals?

Houston Dynamo lost both: 1–0 in 2011, when Beckham helped set up Landon Donovan's winner, and 3–1 a year later, in what Beckham had announced would be his last match for the club.

What did Beckham do with his entire salary during his 2013 spell at PSG?

The £3.4M went to two children's charities in France.

Which England manager gave Beckham his first cap, against Moldova in 1996?

Glenn Hoddle capped him two weeks after his goal from the halfway line, then kept him out of the starting side for the first two games of the 1998 World Cup, saying his mind was not on the tournament.

Beckham's first England goal, at the 1998 World Cup, was a free kick against which team?

Colombia. Kept out of the starting side for England's first two matches for supposedly not concentrating, Beckham started the third and curled in a 30-yard free kick, his first goal for his country.

Which Argentine did Beckham kick out at to earn his 1998 World Cup red card?

Diego Simeone later admitted he had gone down theatrically to get Beckham sent off; England lost on penalties, and Beckham came home to such abuse that he needed police protection.

Which caretaker manager first made Beckham England captain in November 2000?

Peter Taylor, standing in for a single friendly, gave the armband to the 25-year-old Beckham; the next manager, Sven-Göran Eriksson, kept him as captain, and he led England for almost six years.

Beckham's last-gasp free kick in October 2001 secured World Cup qualification against which team?

Greece led 2–1 deep into stoppage time when Beckham curled in a free kick; the draw was enough to send England straight to the World Cup without a play-off.

How did Beckham score England's winner against Argentina at the 2002 World Cup?

A penalty, four years after he was sent off against the same opponents: the kick gave England a 1–0 win and, for Beckham, a measure of revenge.

Beckham became the first Englishman to score at three World Cups with a 2006 free kick against which team?

Ecuador. Dehydrated and unwell in the heat, Beckham was sick on the pitch only minutes after curling in the one goal of the game.

Who succeeded Beckham as England captain after he stepped down in 2006?

John Terry got the armband, with Steven Gerrard as his deputy; a day later the new manager named his first squad, and Beckham, captain for the previous six years, was not in it at all.

Whose record of 108 caps for an England outfield player did Beckham pass in 2009?

Bobby Moore's 108 caps had been the outfield record since 1973; Beckham, dropped on 94 three years earlier and seemingly finished, passed it as a substitute against Slovakia and ended on 115.

Which streaming service released the four-part documentary series Beckham in 2023?

Netflix. The four-part series earned five Emmy nominations, and by the streamer's own account Beckham did not watch any of it until after it had premiered.

Where did David and Victoria Beckham marry in July 1999?

Luttrellstown Castle, Ireland, on the edge of Dublin: the showbiz wedding of the year had only 29 people at the ceremony, with baby Brooklyn as ring bearer, before the couple took their seats on golden thrones for the reception.

What pet name for Beckham did Victoria let slip in a TV chat-show interview?

Golden Balls: Victoria came out with it on Parkinson while praising the way he had rebuilt his reputation after the 1998 World Cup, then added, 'That's one of those things I shouldn't have said,' as David put his head in his hands.

Beckham's forearm tattoo of Victoria's name is written in which language?

Hindi. Beckham is said to have thought her name in English would look 'tacky', but the script he chose instead carries a spelling mistake: there is an extra 'h' in Victoria.

Which brand supplied Beckham's boots for most of his career?

Adidas. In 1996 Beckham asked the company for a pair of its Predator boots; the ones it sent had been made for another player, with 'Charlie' embroidered on the tongue, and he scored from the halfway line in them.

How did Beckham deliver the Olympic flame to the stadium at the London 2012 opening ceremony?

By speedboat: Beckham drove it along the Thames and under Tower Bridge with the torch on board, then rower Steve Redgrave lit his own torch from it and carried the flame into the stadium.

Which non-league club did Beckham join his Class of '92 teammates in co-owning in 2019?

Salford City: Beckham's 10% stake reunited him with five former United team-mates, who had bought the club in 2014, and gave the Class of '92 a 60% share of a side then outside the Football League.

Where was Beckham knighted by King Charles III in November 2025?

Windsor Castle, 22 years after he collected his OBE at Buckingham Palace. He called the day 'surreal', and it made his wife, the former Posh Spice, Lady Beckham.