{"id":849089,"date":"2025-05-17T19:13:03","date_gmt":"2025-05-18T00:13:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/17\/in-pictures-beckham-at-50\/"},"modified":"2025-05-17T19:13:03","modified_gmt":"2025-05-18T00:13:03","slug":"in-pictures-beckham-at-50","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/17\/in-pictures-beckham-at-50\/","title":{"rendered":"In pictures: Beckham at 50"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As football icon David Beckham celebrates his 50th birthday, BBC Sport takes a look back at the former Manchester United and England great\u2019s life in photos.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Eric<\/picture><\/span>Image source,<\/span>Getty Images<\/span><\/p>

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David Beckham was one of Manchester United\u2019s \u2018Class of \u201992\u2019 \u2013 players who won the 1992 FA Youth Cup before going on to win the Treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League titles in 1999<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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\"David<\/picture><\/span>Image source,<\/span>Getty Images<\/span><\/p>

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Beckham scored from the halfway line against Wimbledon in the last minute of the opening day of the 1996-97 season \u2013 perhaps his most famous goal and the one that launched his career<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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\"David<\/picture><\/span>Image source,<\/span>PA Media<\/span><\/p>

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Beckham and Victoria Adams, more commonly known as Posh Spice from girlband the Spice Girls, started dating in 1997. They announced their engagement in 1998 and married the following year in an Irish castle ceremony featuring golden thrones.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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\"David<\/picture><\/span>Image source,<\/span>Getty Images<\/span><\/p>

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Beckham has four children \u2013 sons Brooklyn (pictured), Romeo and Cruz, and daughter Harper<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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\"David<\/picture><\/span>Image source,<\/span>PA Media<\/span><\/p>

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At the 1998 World Cup in France, Beckham was sent off after kicking out at Argentina\u2019s Diego Simeone. He became, at the time, only the second player to be sent off for England at a World Cup, after Ray Wilkins received a red card in 1986.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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\"David<\/picture><\/span>Image source,<\/span>Getty Images<\/span><\/p>

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Beckham delivered both corners from which Manchester United scored twice in injury time to beat Bayern Munich in the 1999 Champions League final, completing the Treble<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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\"David<\/picture><\/span>Image source,<\/span>Getty Images<\/span><\/p>

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Peter Taylor, although only caretaker manager for one game, gave Beckham the England captaincy in 2000. Beckham went on to lead the side 59 times<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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\"David<\/picture><\/span>Image source,<\/span>Getty Images<\/span><\/p>

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In perhaps his most iconic moment on the pitch, Beckham scored a 93rd-minute free-kick against Greece at Old Trafford in 2001 to send England to the 2002 World Cup finals<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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\"David<\/picture><\/span><\/p>

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The Beckhams appeared on Sir Michael Parkinson\u2019s self-titled chat show in 2001, a famous interview in which Victoria let slip her \u2018Golden Balls\u2019 nickname for her husband<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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\"David<\/picture><\/span>Image source,<\/span>PA Media<\/span><\/p>

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David Beckham and Kirsty Howard presented the Jubilee Baton to Queen Elizabeth II during the Manchester Commonwealth Games opening ceremony in 2002. Kirsty was born with a rare heart defect and was given just weeks to live at the age of four, but lived until she was 20 and raised more than \u00a37.5m for Manchester\u2019s Francis House Children\u2019s Hospice.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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\"David<\/picture><\/span>Image source,<\/span>Getty Images<\/span><\/p>

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Beckham redeemed himself four years later at the 2002 World Cup, his goal from the penalty spot sealing a 1-0 win for England against Simeone\u2019s Argentina<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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\"David<\/picture><\/span>Image source,<\/span>Getty Images<\/span><\/p>

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David Beckham and the England squad met Nelson Mandela before a friendly against South Africa in 2003. Known for his ever-changing hairstyles, Beckham later said he regretted having cornrows when he met the former South Africa president.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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\"David<\/picture><\/span>Image source,<\/span>Getty Images<\/span><\/p>

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Beckham was left with a cut eyebrow after he was hit by a boot kicked by Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson in the dressing room after a 2-0 FA Cup defeat by Arsenal in 2003.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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\"David<\/picture><\/span>Image source,<\/span>Getty Images<\/span><\/p>

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Beckham joined Real Madrid\u2019s \u2018Galacticos\u2019 in 2003. Because forward Raul already wore Beckham\u2019s famous number seven shirt, the England captain chose the number 23 instead because of his admiration for basketball great Michael Jordan.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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\"David<\/picture><\/span>Image source,<\/span>Getty Images<\/span><\/p>

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Beckham left Real Madrid for LA Galaxy in 2007, a move which transformed the profile of Major League Soccer (MLS)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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\"AC<\/picture><\/span>Image source,<\/span>Getty Images<\/span><\/p>

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During his time at LA Galaxy, Beckham had two loan spells at AC Milan. After a Champions League defeat by Manchester United at Old Trafford, Beckham draped a green and gold scarf \u2013 symbolic of United fans\u2019 protests against the Glazer family\u2019s ownership of the club \u2013 around his neck. He later said he wasn\u2019t aware of the scarf\u2019s association with the anti-Glazer campaign.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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\"David<\/picture><\/span>Image source,<\/span>Getty Images<\/span><\/p>

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Having been part of the successful bid to bring the 2012 Olympics to London, Beckham played his part in the memorable opening ceremony, driving the speedboat that carried the Olympic flame down the River Thames to the stadium<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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\"David<\/picture><\/span>Image source,<\/span>Getty Images<\/span><\/p>

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Beckham joined Paris St-Germain in January 2013 and it was there he played the final match of his career four months later. He was in tears as he was substituted in the 80th minute against Brest, departing the pitch to a standing ovation from fans<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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\"David<\/picture><\/span>Image source,<\/span>Getty Images<\/span><\/p>

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In 2014, it was announced that Beckham had exercised his option to buy a MLS expansion team for $25m \u2013 part of the contract he signed with LA Galaxy. Inter Miami made its MLS debut in 2020 and signed Argentine great Lionel Messi in 2023<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

BBC
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As football icon David Beckham celebrates his 50th birthday, BBC Sport takes a look back at the former Manchester United and England great\u2019s life in photos. Image source,Getty Images Image caption, David Beckham was one of Manchester United\u2019s \u2018Class of \u201992\u2019 \u2013 players who won the 1992 FA Youth Cup before going on to win<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":849090,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1184,1026],"tags":[12264,11561],"class_list":{"0":"post-849089","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-beckham","8":"category-pictures","9":"tag-beckham","10":"tag-pictures"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=849089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849089\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/849090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=849089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=849089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=849089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}