Beckham's journey from schoolboy to superstar

David Beckham could be spending the next phase of his football career in Spain or Italy.

Not bad for someone who claims he was always picked last for kickabouts in the school playground in east London.

Despite his small stature, Beckham soon started to shine at football and starred for the all-conquering Ridgeway Rovers Under-7s.

Scouts from local clubs became interested and Beckham despaired that he would never be noticed by United.

But one day he was spotted by a scout from Old Trafford, and his life changed forever.

“Being from London and being a southerner, I never thought I would get seen by a scout of Man United,” he said.

“But then I was lucky enough one day that I had a good game for my district side.

“I remember getting changed and I walked out and my mum pulled me to one side.

“She said ‘lucky you had a good game today’. I said ‘why?’ and she said ‘because the Man United scout was here and he wants you to go up to Manchester United in the summer’. I just started crying.”

Beckham signed schoolboy forms with United on his 14th birthday in 1989.

Two years later he signed as a trainee and moved permanently up to Manchester.

He was capped by England Youth and was part of United’s famous 1992 FA Youth Cup-winning side.

It was September 1992 when the young Beckham made his senior United debut in a League Cup tie at Brighton as a substitute for Andrei Kanchelskis.

But after turning professional with United in 1993, his progress slowed.

Despite scoring on his Champions League debut against Galatasaray in 1994, he feared the worst when Alex Ferguson called him into his office in February 1995 and told him he was going on a month’s loan to Preston.

Beckham did not want to go, fearing he was being edged out of the Old Trafford door.

But Ferguson reassured him that he just wanted him to gain more first-team experience.

“I was gutted really because I felt my career was over at Manchester United.

“The manager assured me it wasn’t and it’s the best thing I’ve ever done in my career going to Preston.”

Beckham made five league appearances for Preston and scored twice, including the first of his many free-kicks.

But even though he returned to United buoyed by the experience, he still could not see a way into the first team.

But that summer Beckham got his big break when Ferguson sold Kanchelskis, Paul Ince and Mark Hughes – and brought in the class of ‘92.

He shot to national attention by going one better than Pele and scoring from the halfway line, spotting Wimbledon goalkeeper Neil Sullivan off his line and finding the net with his trusty right foot.

United won the Premiership and FA Cup double in 1996 and Beckham was well on the road to superstardom.

He was playing for the best team in the country, won his first England cap in the autumn of 1996 and was soon a regular fixture on the front pages of national newspapers by virtue of his relationship with, and ultimately, marriage to Victoria Adams, better known to pop fans as Posh Spice of the Spice Girls.

His fame has gone on to completely transcend the sport, but he found out early on that such exposure was not all a bed of roses.

He missed the first two matches of England’s 1998 World Cup campaign in France as manager Glenn Hoddle claimed he lacked focus, but took his chance magnificently in the third game against Colombia as he curled in a free-kick to seal a 2-0 win.

But with England level at 2-2 against Argentina in the second round, he stuck out a boot at Diego Simeone after the South American had sent him crashing to the ground. Beckham got to his feet only to be shown the red card, and England’s penalty shoot-out exit was blamed on his petulance.

He became public enemy number one for a time. However, his response could not have been better as Beckham enjoyed possibly his finest season on a personal and team level.

United won the treble of Premiership, FA Cup and Champions League in the 1998-99 season, the latter sealed by two late, late goals stemming from Beckham’s accuracy with a dead-ball (in this case from the corner flag).

The Red Devils retained their title in 2000 and 2001 and in the latter year he was made captain of his country under new manager Sven-Goran Eriksson.

It was a masterstroke from the shrewd Swede. Beckham was not a great shouter, but he led by example on the pitch and a rejuvenated England recovered from rock-bottom to top in their qualifying group for the 2002 World Cup.

That position at the summit was due in no small part to Beckham’s efforts in the final qualifier against Greece.

While the rest of his team-mates all seemed well below-par, Beckham played out of his skin and then, in injury time, scored yet another of his free-kicks to gain the point needed to secure top spot.

It was no wonder that he was voted the BBC Sports Personality of the Year for 2001 and finished second behind Luis Figo in the FIFA World Footballer of the Year poll.

He was in greater demand than ever and the uncertainty over whether he would sign a new and improved contract with United rumbled on for the first half of 2002.

When he finally did sign, it was at a time when this famed dead-ball artist couldn’t kick a thing.

He was nursing a foot injury sustained in April that threatened his hopes of playing in the forthcoming World Cup in Japan and South Korea.

But Beckham did line up for England’s opening match in the Far East, where his popularity is possibly even greater than it is at home.

He then came full-circle against Argentina in Sapporo, scoring the penalty which helped England to a 1-0 win and sent Simeone and co towards an early exit, before the campaign ended at the hands of eventual winners Brazil.

Back home, United emerged as Arsenal’s main rivals in the league, but after the Gunners dumped them out of the FA Cup at the fifth-round stage in February it was Beckham who felt the pain more than anyone.

A furious Alex Ferguson slammed a boot across the dressing room in frustration at the defeat and it caught Beckham just above the eye.

It was not long before the press got hold of what had happened, and pictures of a grim-faced Beckham complete with stitches were beamed around the world.

The “Scar Wars” saga eventually calmed down, but it seems no amount of bandaging could fully repair the damage done to the relationship between player and manager.

Perhaps the final straw came when Ferguson left Beckham on the bench in the Champions League quarter-final second-leg clash with Real on April 23.

United were 3-1 down from the first leg but the manager decided there was no place for Beckham’s assured delivery or deadliness from set-plays.

Ultimately Beckham did come on and scored twice, the first a thumping free-kick which served as a wistful glance at what might have been if he had been given his chance from the start as United lost 6-5 on aggregate.

Winning the Premiership title yet again softened the blow but his reappearance on the pitch for a kickabout with his son Brooklyn after the club’s final home game of the season against Charlton smacked of a final farewell to Old Trafford.