Dreams Can Come True
When he was just 11 years old David entered a Blue Peter competition and won a trip to the Bobby Charlton Soccer School in Manchester - it was there that his journey to soccer stardom began.
"As a young boy, I attended the Bobby Charlton Soccer Schools with dreams of becoming a professional footballer," says David, "The experience changed my life as I learnt from the best coaches and got to meet football heroes such as Bobby Charlton."
Taken from thedavidbeckhamacademy.co.uk
David Beckham was a pupil at the Bobby Charlton Soccer Schools and attended our Summer Residential from 1986-1988. He first came to Bobby Charlton Soccer Schools as an 11 year old in 1986. During his holiday at the Soccer School David was tested using the Bobby Charlton Soccer School Skills Tests. He gained the top score in his coaching group and went through to our National Skills Final which, at the time, was held at Old Trafford, Manchester United.
David competed against other finalists and won the Bobby Charlton Soccer Schools National Skills Final with a total of 1,100 points. Mark Price age 16 came 2nd with 950 points and Dean Lonsdale aged 13 came 3rd with 940 points.
The prize for winning the Bobby Charlton National Skills Final in 1986 was a 1-week visit to Barcelona Football Club. He met the manager Terry Venables (Ex-England Manager) and the Barcelona players including Mark Hughes (Wales and Ex-Manchester United).
Bryn Cooper, a UEFA ‘A’ Licensed Coach, was Director of our soccer courses during the time David spent with us. Bryn’s comments are interesting reading for any aspiring young soccer player.
“David had tremendous ability as a young boy. Such was his ability that in 1988 he was transferred from the 13-year-old age group to an older age group. Despite this, David still achieved the highest skills score in this older age group.
In addition to his natural ability, David displayed a fantastic work ethic and a great deal of determination, which meant he was continually practising his individual skills. It was clearly evident to the coaches at Bobby Charlton Soccer Schools that David was completely focussed on becoming a professional footballer.”
After signing for Manchester United as a trainee on 8 July 1991, he helped the club to win the FA Youth Cup in May 1992, scoring in the second leg of the final against Crystal Palace.
On 23 September 1992, David made his first team debut as a substitute in the Rumbelows Cup tie at Brighton and Hove Albion. However, he then had to wait a further two and a half years to make his League debut.
During this time, he collected a runners-up medal in the 1993 FA Youth Cup and a reserve team championship medal in 1994. He also played five matches on loan for Preston North End, scoring two goals.
David made his Premier League debut at home to Leeds United on 2 April 1995. During the 1995/96 season he really established himself in the first team. The season was successful with Manchester United winning the Premiership title and the FA Cup.
David started the 1996/97 season by scoring from the halfway line against Wimbledon at Selhurst Park. He won his first senior England cap on 1st September 1996 against Moldova. He had previously been capped at Youth and Under 21 level for England.
He was voted Young Player of the Year for the 1996/97 season and came second in the overall Player of the Year poll. In the same season he also helped Manchester United win another Premiership title and reach the semi-final of the UEFA Champions League.
During the 1997/98 season David was selected for England’s World Cup Finals squad. Manchester United came runners-up in the Premiership and reached the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League.
The 1998 World Cup provided mixed feelings for David. On a high point he scored a stunning free kick for England against Colombia. However, he was then sent off later in the tournament during the second round defeat against Argentina.
In the first league game of the 1998/99 season against Leicester City, he curled in one of his trademark free kicks to prevent defeat.
The 1998/99 season was truly memorable for David and Manchester United. The club won the unprecedented Treble of the Premiership title, FA Cup and European Cup.
The 1999/2000 season saw David continue with his successful career at Manchester United. He picked up his fourth Premiership winner’s medal and was voted the second best player in Europe and the World. Rivaldo was placed first in both awards. Manchester United were also crowned World Club Champions during the 1999/2000 season. In addition David came runner-up in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
The major highlights of David’s 2000/01 season were on the international stage. He again won the Premiership title, having scored in three matches in a row early in the campaign.
It was in 2003 that Manchester United accepted a bid of £25 million from Real Madrid and David signed a four-year deal at the Bernabeu on July 1st. His fourteen-year spell with his boyhood club was over.
He remained at Real Madrid for four seasons, clinching the La Liga Championship in his final season with the club.
In January 2007, it was announced David would leave Real Madrid and sign a five-year contract with Major League Soccer Club Los Angeles Galaxy. Beckham's contract with Los Angeles Galaxy became effective on 1st July 2007. He debuted for the team on 21st July 2007 in a friendly versus Chelsea at The Home Depot Center, and on the 15th August, he had his first start with the team, scoring his first goal in the 2007 Super Liga Semi Final. His first league start came on the 18th August in front of a record crowd at Giants Stadium.
In 2008, Beckham's success in the England National Team under Fabio Capello led to speculation that he might return to Europe in order to retain match fitness for the World Cup Qualifying Matches in 2009.
On the 30th October 2008, Milan announced that Beckham was to join them on loan from the 7th January 2009. Beckham made it clear that the move in no way signalled his intent to leave MLS and announced his intent to return to the Galaxy in time for the start of the 2009 season in March. At Milan he chose the number 32 shirt previously worn by Christian Vieri, as both the number 7 and 23 shirts were already used by the players.
On 4th February it was announced that Beckham was seeking a permanent transfer to Milan, in a bid to sustain his England career. On 2nd March the Los Angeles Times reported that Beckham's loan had been extended through mid-July. This was later confirmed by Beckham revealing what was described as a unique "timeshare" deal, in which Beckham would play with L.A. from mid-July to the end of the 2009 MLS season.
In November 2009 it was confirmed that Beckham would return to Milan for a second loan period beginning in January 2010. On 6th January 2010, Beckham made a winning return in a Milan shirt, playing 75 minutes of a 5-2 victory over Genoa.
England
David proudly captained England for the first time in a friendly in Italy and then kept the captaincy for the friendly with Spain and the World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Finland.
Beckham was captain of England from 15th November 2000 until the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final, during which he played 58 times. Since then he has continued to represent his country and earned his much-publicised hundredth cap for England against France on 26th March 2008. On 11th October 2008 (Sir Bobby Charlton's 71st Birthday) Beckham equalled Sir Bobby's 106 caps. He is currently England's most-capped outfield player with 115 appearances, although as Beckham himself says he is not playing for caps he is playing for his country !
