injury 119
playing for Blackburn 69
senior member of England squad 117, 226
transfer to Newcastle United 267
World Cup 1998 131
World Cup 1998 qualifiers 118
Sheringham, Teddy
1998–1999 season 148
European Cup Final 1999 172–173
FA Cup 1999 169
number 10shirt 245
World Cup 2002 294–295, 310
World Cup 2002 qualifiers 230, 255–256
Silvestre, Mikael 475
Simeone, Diego 289, 292–293
Beckham sending-off incident 131–132, 148
hand-shaking incident 155
Sinclair, Trevor 291, 294, 296
Slattery, Steve
Beckham’s sending-off incident 132, 135
support for Beckham 129
World Cup 2002 286, 297
Smith, Alan 7, 19, 233, 278, 466
Smith, Jim 153
Smith, Pat 19
Smith, Richard 280, 304
Solari, Santiago 422, 424
Solskjaer, Ole Gunnar
1998–1999 season 152, 154
Champions League 2003 384
European Cup Final 1999 172–173
substituting for Beckham 354, 376–377, 379
Sorin, Juan Pablo 291
Southgate, Gareth 279
Speed, Gary 169
Stam, Jaap 147, 243
Stephens, Tony
Beckham left on subs bench 380
Beckham signing for Real Madrid 409
Beckham’s contract with
Manchester United 268–269, 270
Beckham’s honeymoon 188–189
Beckham’s rift with Ferguson 351
disliked by Ferguson 267–268
Manchester United selling Beckham 391–392
negotiations with Real Madrid 394–397
support for Beckham 445
World Cup 2002 297
Stiles, Nobby
Beckham’s idol 23
coaching Beckham 38, 116
determined spirit 206
Milk Cup trip 45–46
Strachan, Gordon 23, 31
Sullivan, Neil 88
Sutton, Chris 69
Taylor, Peter
appointing Beckham as England
captain 223–226
coaching England 228
selection of young England squad 226–227, 230
Terry, John 469, 485, 489
Thomas, Michael 85
Thornley, Ben
1996–1997 season 103
Bryan Adams concert 267
David’s relationship with Victoria 110
FA Youth Cup 1992 55
friendship with Beckham 53–54
holiday in Malta 52
Milk Cup tournament 46
Thornley, Rod 286
Tofting, Stig 301
Tottenham Hotspur
FA Youth Cup 1992 54–55
offer to Beckham 31–32
training Beckham 22
training Beckham 30–32
Trapattoni, Giovanni 246
Treglowen, Matt 10
Treglowen, Simon 10
Tristan, Diego 261
Tugay 467
Tupac 128
Underwood, Robert 14–15
Underwood, Stuart
coaching Ridgeway Rovers 13–15, 20
emphasis on smartness 50, 169
scouting Beckham 13
Usher 258–259, 290, 297
Valdano, Jorge 406, 409–410
van Nistelrooy, Ruud
2002–2003 season 370, 376
Champions League 2003 373–374, 384
Ferguson flying boot incident 360
injury 242
Vassell, Darius 368, 486, 489
Venables, Terry
Beckham approached by Spurs 32
Beckham training with Barcelona 28, 30
leaving as England manager 116
Veron, Juan Sebastian (Seba)
Beckham left on subs bench 379
Beckham sending-off incident 132, 135
Champions League 2003 382
World Cup 1998 288–289
World Cup 2002 289, 295
Versace, Donatella 168–169
Vialli, Gianluca 445
Vieira, Patrick 164, 236, 376
Vieri, Christian 120
Warren, Frank 178
Watson, Russell 272–274
West, Joe (grandfather)
David’s debut as Manchester
United captain 244
support for David 13, 27, 29
Tottenham supporter 12–13, 22
West, Peggy (grandmother) 12–13
Whelan, Ray 28
Whitworth, Ray 193
Wilkinson, Howard 190, 223
Wiltord, Sylvain 359
Wiltshire, Don 20
Winstone, Ray 272
World Club Championships 2000 194–198
World Cup 1998 114, 127–136
qualifiers 118–120
World Cup 2002 280–313
qualifiers 220–221, 229–238, 248–259
Wright, Ian 199083, 119–120
Yorke, Dwight
1998–1999 season 152, 155, 167–168
Beckham’s foot injury 264
sidelined by Ferguson 243
signed by Manchester United 147
Zanetti, Javier 131
Zidane, Zinedine
Beckham joining Real Madrid 421, 423
bought by Real Madrid 410
Champions League 2003 371, 373, 382, 384, 385
Champions League 2004 429, 452, 454–455
Euro 2004 476–477
galacticos 432–433
La Liga 2002–2003 400
quiet personality 424
Real Madrid home dressing room 407
Acknowledgements
To Mum and Dad: without your love and guidance there wouldn’t be a story here for the telling.
Love to the family, especially Lynne and Joanne, Colin, Georgina and Freddie, Nan and Grandad, Tony and Jackie, Louise, Haydn, Liberty and Tululah, Christian and Lucy.
To my school friends, my pals from boyhood and my Ridgeway team-mates: I’ve not forgotten any of you.
To the friends I’ve been lucky enough to find during a career in professional football, including Gary, Phil, Ryan, Nicky and Scholesy. And special thanks to Dave, Terry and Steve for your company, advice and more in recent years.
To Andrew and Charles; Caroline and Jo.
To everyone at HarperCollins, including Michael, Tom, Jane and David, for their patience and support. Particular thanks to my co-writer Tom, for jogging my memory and helping me find the words I needed.
To the team at Footwork and 19. Thanks for all the hard graft.
Thanks to all the coaches and managers, particularly Stuart Underwood, Malcolm Fidgeon, Eric Harrison, Sir Alex Ferguson and Sven-Goran Eriksson, who’ve lit up my time in the game we love: you have my gratitude, respect and admiration.
Thanks, as well, to all the great players I’ve been privileged to play alongside for Manchester United, Real Madrid and England. Whatever I’ve done has only been possible because of the talent, commitment and inspiration of the other ten.
David Beckham August 2004
Copyright
Tom Watt, who collaborated with David Beckham
on this book, is an established author, actor,
sportswriter and broadcaster
First published in hardback 2003 by
CollinsWillow
an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
London
First published in paperback 2004
© Footwork Productions Ltd 2004
FIRST EDITION
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on
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EPUB EDITION © APRIL 2010 ISBN: 978-0-007-37344-4
The Author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
The HarperCollins website address is www.harpercollins.co.uk
About the Publisher
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Table of Contents
Cover Page
Title Page
Dedication
The Back Garden, August 2004
1 Murdering the Flowerbeds
2 The Man in the Brown Sierra
3 Home from Home
4 DB on the Tarmac
5 The One with the Legs
6 Don’t Cry for Me
7 Thanks for Standing By Me
8 I Do
9 The Germans
10 My Foot in It
11 Beckham (pen)
12 Bubble Beckham
13 About Loyalty
14 United Born and Bred
15 For Real: Hala Madrid!
16 Futbol, La Vida
17 It’s Christmas
18 Let’s Face It
Career Record
Index
Acknowledgements
Copyright
About the Publisher
David Beckham: My Side Page 50