David was born on 2 May, 1975, in Leytonstone, London to parents Ted and Sandra, and soon the family

moved to Chingford, Essex. Encouraged by his parents (his father Ted was also a United supporter), David set about earning his place in footballing history. In 1986, when he was just 11, David became skills champion for his age group at the Bobby Charlton Soccer Schools. This gave him the chance to attend a two-week trip during which he would train with FC Barcelona at the Nou Camp stadium, with the words of Bobby Charlton ringing in his ears stating that David was the best 11-year-old he had seen in his six years of running .the school Manchester United Success at United came quickly, as he won the FA Youth Cup in 1992 with a team including Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes. Making such an impact led to his senior team debut on 23 September, 1992. This was as a sub for Andrei Kanchelskis in a League Cup match against Brighton and Hove Albion. David then signed as a professional on 23 January 1993, followed by his first full appearance in September 1994 against Port Vale, again in the League Cup. This was followed two months later with his first goal for United, against Turkish side Galatasaray in .the Champions League When he was 19, manager Alex Ferguson, reasoning that David was a late developer, sent him on loan to Preston North End to gain more first team experience. He made a great impression there after scoring on his debut against Doncaster. However, he was called back to Manchester after just five games as United were short of players for their next

match against Leeds. He scored his first Premiership goal against Aston Villa in the first game of the 1995/1996 season, a match in which the united teams were out to prove themselves after a lot of changes to the team. They were beaten that day and TV pundit Alan Hansen stated: 'You can't win anything with kids'. But United had faith in their

abilities, so Beckham and the united team went on to prove Hansen very wrong. During that season, Beckham scored eight goals and United won the Premiership and FA Cup .double, firmly establishing David in the first team Beckham became a household name during the following season after scoring a famous goal against Wimbledon at Selhurst Park from the half-way line. From then on, David was one of Manchester United's most loved players with fans all over the world, playing 311 games, scoring 74 goals and .winning 11 medals

After winning England caps at under-21 and youth level, Beckham earned his first senior cap for England against

Moldova on 1 September, 1996. Manager Glenn Hoddle made the brave move of putting such a young player in the .starting line up, which paid off as England won 3-0 David then went on to become the only player to make the starting line up in every qualifying game for the 1998 World Cup in France, however, this competition finished in disaster for David. Having been left out of the first two games of the tournament, he set out to prove himself in the third match, against Columbia, scoring one of his now famous free-kicks. In the next game, against Argentina, David suffered the first sending-off of his professional career. Having been tackled from behind by the Argentinean midfielder Diego Simeone, Beckham impulsively kicked out at Simeone in retaliation. His dismissal from the match left England to play with ten men for the rest of a game in which they were only beaten in a penalty shoot-out. Almost the entire country blamed David for England being knocked out of the World Cup that year and so he faced abuse and criticism wherever he went, but over time, through his footballing abilities, he won back the .crowd and regained his place in the nation's heart Support for David did again rise, and his confidence and ability on the pitch grew, leading to the new England manager at the time, Sven Goran Eriksson to hand David the captain's armband in 2001. In this role he succeeded in taking the England team into the finals of World Cup 2002 in Japan and Korea. One of David's best performances as England Captain was ensuring qualification for World Cup '02. England only managed to draw in this match, but as other players looked woeful on the pitch, Beckham played amazingly. Chasing every ball, and leading by example, he saved the team by curling the ball into the net from a late .free-kick to secure a point, and a place in the finals Tragedy looked inevitable when he broke his foot in a

Champions League match prior to the finals. The whole country willed the injury to heal, and heal it did, leaving Beckham to lead England all the way to the quarter-finals .where they were beaten by eventual champions, Brazil

In July 2003, David Beckham signed a 25m deal with Real Madrid ending his time playing at the team of his childhood heroes, Manchester United. So a new chapter starts, and everyone waits for the next haircut, fashion statement and .footballing milestones to add to the Beckham story

Put forth : http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A1138600