David Robert Joseph Beckham, popularly known in the sporting world as David Beckham, was born on May 2, 1975, at Whips Cross University Hospital, in Leytonstone, London, England, to mother Sandra Georgina and father Ted Beckham. He has an older sister, Lynne Georgina, and a younger sister, Joanne Louise. David had his education at Chase Lane Primary School and then at Chingford Country High School.
Beckham hails from a football-loving family. In fact, his parents were such Manchester United fanatics that they would travel from London to Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, which is also Man U’s home ground, to watch the team’s league matches. David turned out to be a promising footballer early on in his childhood. In fact, he won the coveted Bobby Charlton Soccer Schools National Skills competition at the age of 11 in 1986, drawing the attention of the Manchester United team's officials, who asked him to try out for the club's youth league.
Subsequently, Beckham joined the junior squad of Manchester United in 1989, at the age of 14. In a few years' time, he would start appearing in the club's senior squad and would end up playing four league seasons for the United.
Beckham made his professional debut from United in 1992, at the tender age of 17. With his stellar performance and the soon-to-be-famous curling kicks, he helped the team win the FA Youth Cup in May 1992. Beckham’s team had a bevy of young, talented players that included Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Phil Neville and Paul Scholes, all of them training under coach Eric Harrison. Beckham’s performed pretty well in the Cup.
Finally, at the age of 21, David Beckham landed a spot on the English National Football team, in 1996. He debuted from his national side in a World Cup-qualifier match. By that time, the footballer had also established himself as Manchester's first choice and helped the team retain the Premier League Championship title. In the same year, he was also voted a PFA Young Player of the Year by his fellow Club players.
Along with fame and success also came controversies. Beckham lost his cool during the 1998 World Cup match against Argentina and kicked Argentine player Diego Simeone after Simeone fouled him. This was followed by a red card that forced Beck out of the field. The match ended in a draw but the English side was eliminated in a penalty shootout.
Four years after debuting for his national team, Beckham became the captain of the English National Football Team in 2000. He was preceded by Alan Shearer. A year before that, Manchester United became the only club to win the coveted treble: the EPL, FA Cup, and Champions League.
But while Beckham had proved to be a lucky charm for Manchester United, his performance in the national squad was lackluster if not disappointing. Despite Beckham’s major role in helping England qualify for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, starring in an impressive 5–1 victory over Germany in Munich, England was booted out of the World Cup by Brazil. Things turned worse in 2006, when England was once again forced out of the World Cup, leading to Beckham resigning from his captaincy.
With tension increasing between him and head coach of Manchester United Alex Ferguson, who coached The team from 1986-2012, Beckham left the team landed in the Spanish capital Madrid to play for Real Madrid in 2003.
Beckham proved lucky for Real Madrid as well. Before moving to LA Galaxy, in 2007, Beckham helps secure a 3-1 victory for his club over Mallorca. This helped them clinch the league title from Barcelona. Sadly, before the final victory, Beckham limped off the ground with an injury.
David finally bid farewell to the English National Football Team in 2009, after spending more than 13 years with it. His last match for England was during the 2010 World Cup qualifier against Belarus held in Minsk, which England won by 3-1. Beckham earned his 107th cap from the game and became England’s third most-capped player in history.
But even after his retirement from the national team, David retained his marketing prowess. After moving to Galaxy, Beckham became one of the most coveted marketing assets for the club. He was even loaned by the club to AC Milan after the Italian team was unable to pay the transfer amount put forward by the American club.
By 2012, Beckham had helped LA Galaxy win two MLS cup despite his age. From Galaxy, he shifted to the French club Paris St-Germain on a short contract, debuting for PSG on 24 February 2013, when he came off the bench in the 76th minute in a Ligue 1 home match against Marseille.
PSG won its first League title on 12 May 2013 after beating Lyon 1-0, while Beckham won his fourth top-flight medal. Subsequently, Beckham was made the captain of his club team on 18 May 2013.
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Regarding his personal life, Beckham married Spice Girl Victoria Adams in 1999, in a wedding ceremony that cost upward of $800,000. Victoria was not Beckham’s first love, though. Beckham was earlier in a relationship with girlfriend model Krista Kemp. David and Victoria have a brood of 4 children, three sons and one daughter: Brooklyn (March 4, 1999), Romeo James (September 1, 2002, 2002), Cruz (February 20, 2005) and Harper Seven (July 10, 2011).
David Beckham’s net worth is estimated at around $450 million (£280 million). The British icon made $228 million in soccer revenues. His earnings from endorsements and commercial advertisements have reached upward of $42 million. So far, he has worked for brands like Adidas, H&M, Coty, Samsung and Sainsbury's.
Beck has also made around £11.4 million in profit for his Footwork Production Company. With that kind of money, David Beckham lives a life of luxury. He owns a number of luxurious cars (including a Jeep Patriot, Jeep Wrangler, Porsche Boxster, Jaguar f-type, Bentley Mulsanne, Ferrari F430, Lamborghini Gallardo and Bugatti Veyron) have his own private jet (an Embraer Legacy) and loves riding Harley Davidson bikes. The total collection of his cars, jet, and bikes exceeds $55 million.
Beckham has also invested a lot in the property. He made his first home purchase at the age of 21 when he paid £150,000 for a house in Manchester. After marrying Spice Girl Victoria Adams, in 1997, he bought a historic penthouse in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, in 1998, for a little over £300,000 pounds. After Victoria became pregnant with Romeo, the couple moved to a luxurious converted barn, which had its and an indoor swimming pool, in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, in 2002. They had paid £1.25 million for the house. Two years later, they sold it for £1.75 million.
After Beckham started playing for LA Galaxy in 2007, the family decided to purchase a six-bedroom house in Los Angeles for £24 million. Their latest investment in LA County involves buying a California mega-mansion, which has been dubbed by the press as the 'Beckingham' palace, for £160million in late 2016. The mansion is set on a grassy, 4.6-acre patch and comes with 123 rooms. It has 14 bedrooms and 27 bathrooms.
When in England, David and Victoria mostly live in their eight-bedroom Holland Park mansion which has a swimming pool, gym, playroom, spa and a salon-style room as well as two dressing rooms and a ramp for Victoria's catwalk rehearsals. The house was bought for around £25.2 million. Its current value is above 30 million.
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