David Robert Joseph Beckham, OBE (/ˈbɛkəm/; born 2 May 1975)[4] is an English former professional footballer. He played for Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, Milan, LA Galaxy, Paris Saint-Germain, and the England national team for which he holds the appearance record for an outfield player.[5] He was the first English player to win league titles in four countries, England, Spain, the United States and France. He announced his retirement at the end of the 2012–13 season and, on 18 May 2013, played the final game of his 20-year career.[6]
Beckham's professional career began with Manchester United, where he made his first-team debut in 1992 aged 17.[7] With United, he won the Premier League title six times, the FA Cup twice, and the UEFA Champions League in 1999.[7] He then played four seasons with Real Madrid,[8] winning the La Liga championship in his final season with the club.[9] In July 2007 Beckham signed a five-year contract with Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy.[10] While a Galaxy player, he spent two loan spells in Italy with Milan in 2009 and 2010. He was the first British footballer to play 100 UEFA Champions League games.[7]
In international football, Beckham made his England debut on 1 September 1996 at the age of 21. He was captain for six years, earning 58 caps during his tenure.[11][12] He made 115 career appearances in total, appearing at three FIFA World Cup tournaments, the 1998, 2002 and 2006 editions and two UEFA European Championship tournaments, the 2000 and 2004 editions.
Renowned for his range of passing, crossing abililty and bending free-kicks, he has twice been runner-up for FIFA World Player of the Year and in 2004 he was named in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.[13][14][15] Consistently ranked among the sport's highest earners, in 2013 Beckham was listed as the highest paid player in the world, earning over $50 million in the previous 12 months.[16]
He has been married to Victoria Beckham since 1999 and they have four children.[17] Beckham's eldest son Brooklyn currently plays football for Arsenal U16.[18] In February 2014, MLS announced Beckham and a group of investors would own an expansion team in Miami, which would begin play in 2016 or 2017.[19]
Manchester United
Youth and early career
Having signed for Manchester United as a trainee on 8 July 1991,[30] Beckham was part of a group of young players, including Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes, who were coached by Eric Harrison and guided the club to win the FA Youth Cup in May 1992. Beckham scored Manchester United's second goal in the 30th minute of their 3–1 first-leg win of the final against Crystal Palace on 14 April 1992. In the second leg on 15 May, Beckham played a full 90-minutes of the fixture which ended 3–2 in favour of Manchester United and 6–3 on aggregate. Beckham's impact led to a first-team debut on 23 September 1992, as a substitute for Andrei Kanchelskis in a League Cup match against Brighton & Hove Albion. Shortly afterwards, Beckham signed as a professional on 23 January 1993.[31]
Manchester United would again reach the final of the FA Youth Cup, where they would face Leeds United. The first leg was played on 10 May 1993, where Beckham featured in Manchester United's 2–0 home loss and was substituted off of the field for Robbie Savage. In the second leg on 13 May 1993, Beckham played the entire fixture of Manchester United's 2–1 defeat, which gave Leeds United a 4–1 aggregate score. Beckham would also receive honors with the club's reserve-team, when the squad would win the league in 1994. In September 1994, Beckham went on to gain his first full appearance in the club's first team against Port Vale in a League Cup fixture. On 7 December 1994, Beckham made his UEFA Champions League debut, scoring a goal in a 4–0 victory at home to Galatasaray in the final game of the group stage. However, despite the victory they finished third out of four in their group behind FC Barcelona.[32]
