David Beckham

**Sir David Robert Joseph Beckham** (born 2 May 1975) is a former English association football player and businessman. He is now the majority owner of MLS team Inter Miami CF and the minority owner of EFL League Two club Salford City F.C..

In June 2003, Queen Elizabeth II gave David Beckham an OBE. In January 2005, David Beckham became a UNICEF ambassador. In June 2025, he was appointed a Knight Bachelor by King Charles III.

When he initially transferred from Manchester United F.C. to Real Madrid in 2003, he became the highest paid footballer in the world, although this has long since been surpassed.

## Early Life 
David Robert Joseph Beckham was born at Whipps Cross University Hospital in London, England on 2 May 1975. He is the son of Ted and Sandra Georgina West. He grew up in the Manchester football youth system along with Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt, Phil Neville, Gary Neville, and Paul Scholes who all turned out to be famous footballers. Beckham’s maternal grandfather was Jewish, and he describes himself as "half-Jewish", and wrote in his autobiography "I've probably had more contact with Judaism than with any other religion".

## Career 
### Manchester United  
From 1992 through 2003, he played for Manchester United in the Premier League.

### Real Madrid 
After leaving Manchester United, he signed a four-year contract with Real Madrid which ended in June 2007.

### LA Galaxy 
From 2007 to 2012, he played for LA Galaxy in the United States. He was loaned out to AC Milan of Italy for the 2008 - 2009 and the 2009 - 2010 seasons before joining the Galaxy again.

### PSG 
He played for Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1 until the end of the 2012/13 season. After the season ended, he retired.

### England 
He played for England for 13 years, from 1996 until 2009. He was dropped from the England team after giving up his England captaincy but regained his place in the England squad when Fabio Capello became the England manager in 2008.

## Personal life  
David Beckham's wife is singer Victoria Beckham. Some people call her Posh Spice because she was a member of the Spice Girls. The couple have three sons: Brooklyn Joseph Beckham (born 4 March 1999 in London), Romeo Beckham (born 1 September 2002 in London), and Cruz David Beckham (born 20 February 2005 in Madrid, Spain), and a daughter Harper Beckham (born 2 July 2011). She is also the youngest member of the Beckham family.

Beckham gained the nickname "Golden Balls" from Victoria, who revealed it on national television in 2008, while praising him for improving his reputation with England fans after the 1998 FIFA World Cup. When being knighted by King Charles III in November 2025, a string quartet played the song "Golden" from KPop Demon Hunters, as a reference to this nickname.

## Career statistics
### Club
### International
:''Scores and results list England's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Beckham goal''.

## Honours
**Manchester United**
*Premier League: 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03
*FA Cup: 1995–96, 1998–99
*FA Charity Shield: 1996, 1997
*UEFA Champions League: 1998–99
*Intercontinental Cup: 1999

**Real Madrid**
*Supporters' Shield: 2010, 2011

**Paris Saint-Germain**
*Tournoi de France: 1997

**Individual**

 runner-up trophy]]
*FIFA World Player of the Year – Silver Award: 1999, 2001
*Most assists in the Premier League: 1997–98, 1999–2000 *(shared)*, 2000–01
*Premier League Player of the Month: August 1996
*FWA Tribute Award: 2008
*Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year: 1996–97
*England Player of the Year: 2003
*ESM Team of the Year: 1998–99
*UEFA Club Footballer of the Year: 1998–99
*UEFA Club Midfielder of the Year: 1998–99
**Goal of the Decade (vs. Wimbledon, 17 August 1996)
*BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award: 2010 1997–98 Premier League, 1998–99 Premier League, 1999–2000 Premier League
*FIFA 100
*ESPY Awards:
**Best Male Soccer Player: 2004
**Best MLS Player: 2008, 2012
*English Football Hall of Fame: 2008
*Premier League Hall of Fame: 2021
*MLS Comeback Player of the Year Award: 2011
*PFA Team of the Century (1997–2007): 2007
*International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) Legends
*UEFA President's Award: 2018

**Orders and special awards**
*Knight Bachelor by King Charles III, 2025
*Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II: 2003
**The Celebrity 100,* number 15 – *Forbes,* 2007
*Number 1 on the list of the 40 most influential men under the age of 40 in the UK – *Arena*, 2007
*Time 100: 2008
*Gold Blue Peter Badge winner, 2001
*Do Something Athlete Award, 2011
*AC Milan Hall of Fame

**Records**
*First Englishman to win league titles in four countries (England, Spain, United States, France).
*Most free-kicks scored in a Premier League season: 5 in 2000-01

## References