Born David Robert Joseph Beckham on the 2nd of May 1975 in Leytonstone, London, England, to his hairdresser mother Sandra Georgina and kitchen-fitter father David Edward Alan ‘Ted’ Beckham, Becks is now one of the world’s most influential people.
The former LA Galaxy star’s entrepreneurial skills have stood him in good stead as the world has watched his business empire, so-called “Brand Beckham,” rapidly flourish as he stepped away from the sport. There seems little to faze the ex-soccer player, even a foray into the drinks market, with his luxury whisky brand Haig Club, has proved a colossal success.
His career started in the academies at Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United, and the latter set the wheels in motion for what would become a celebrated career in professional football.
Decorated across his years at United, Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan, Beckham’s foray into soccer franchise now has him positioned to affect the game from the director’s box, as one of the founders of Inter Miami CF.
Moving to the US marked the official birth of “Brand Beckham,” which was forged alongside Simon Fuller, who managed Victoria’s career since the early days of the Spice Girls, and who up until recently was responsible for most of the couple’s lucrative brand partnerships since. When they first signed an agreement with Fuller, he promised to take their earning capabilities to astronomical heights in a statement to the media: “The combination of Victoria’s glamour and David’s sex appeal and sporting prowess could over the long-term create a one-billion-dollar brand.”
The Beckhams’ collective worth is currently estimated at $800 million, so they are well on their way. Their brood of four children, Brooklyn, 22, Romeo, 18, Cruz, 16, and Harper, 9, have all grown up in the public arena, appearing well-adjusted and well-mannered, often snapped out and about with their parents.
As Victoria began to make her mark in the world of fashion, Beckham became a sartorial icon in his own right, moving away from the questionable styles he sported as a young footballer and into “Best Dressed” list territory. He had already inked a lifetime deal with Adidas, worth $160 million, and has now gone on to forge endorsement relationships with luxury brands such as Armani and Breitling, fashion labels Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, as well as tech mammoths Samsung and EA Sports’ world-leading FIFA franchise.
STRIPLV: You’ve been quite successful with cameo appearances as an actor, from King Arthur: Legend of the Sword to The Man from UNCLE, and a few other roles. Is this going to become your main focus? BECKHAM: I’m a fortunate guy, and the opportunities that I have are great, but first and foremost, I am a sportsperson - I still regard myself as a sportman, of sorts, even though I’m a long time retired. Obviously, I’ve been lucky enough to dabble in a few other projects and in a few different areas, and that’s just a by-product of being well known. It doesn’t mean I’m particularly good at those other things, and the film work is a lot of fun, but I’m not taking it seriously, and I wouldn’t want anyone to think I am. STRIPLV: But I heard you were being touted as the next Bond. BECKHAM: Yeah, I heard that too. I just want to let you know I’ve definitely not been contacted, (Laughs) and obviously, I’m not up for doing something like that. I know a lot of it is tongue in cheek, and the last thing I would want is for anyone to think I was getting above my station, and Bond is way above my station. STRIPLV: Can you do a Sean Connery voice? BECKHAM: Definitely not! STRIPLV: And yet in Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur, you had quite a few lines. BECKHAM: Yes, more than I wanted, to be honest. I was down at Guy’s house, and we were having a glass of wine, and he said, you know, maybe you should do a bit more here because The Man from UNCLE went so well. The next thing I know, he’s got me doing like 11 or 12 lines. I was like, “this is going to be a real challenge,” but it went well, really well, on the day, and I enjoyed it. STRIPLV: Victoria said a while back that when Harper told her that she wants to play soccer, it was like a dagger to the heart. BECKHAM: Ha, it was the best thing I never heard. Obviously, I have bought her soccer kits over the years, so there has always been that interest, but I remember the day she came down the stairs with a pink dress on and a pair of pink football boots. I know Victoria was cool with the boys being into football, that’s what you expect, but she did say at the time, “Please just let me have one child who I can style my own way.” STRIPLV: Do you find time to look back over your life and achievements? BECKHAM: Not as often as I would like. I think it’s important to do that, but life moves at such a pace, and sometimes you forget how far you have come or how great the experiences were. That’s a shame, but it’s all part of being busy, and you just have to accept that. STRIPLV: Do you have any regrets? BECKHAM: No, they are pointless. Of course, there are situations I wish had been different. Perhaps in the outcome or in what I did, but there is no point fixating what happened in the past. You owe it to yourself to move forward, and more to the point you owe it to your family to move forward. As soon as you start drifting into the history books, you are taking the attention away from the present. STRIPLV: How did this crazy journey begin? BECKHAM: I saw an advert on the TV for an (England World Cup winner) Bobby Charlton Soccer School, so I told my mom I wanted to go, not realizing at the time the distance or expense. I mean, I was 10. Why would I care? Bobby was a hero for my dad. He was his favorite player from his favorite team (Manchester United), so it wasn’t too much of a hard sell. And back in those days, it was the actual player taking the soccer school, not just someone putting his name to a project where you rock up, and it’s a load of coaches you’ve never heard of. Anyway, I ended up staying up in Manchester in lodgings for a week. It was expensive and was reflective really of my parents investing everything they could in my football. Still, it was an incredible experience and, as it worked out, a decent rehearsal for what was to follow in my youth, where I was often away with clubs and on trips and tours. STRIPLV: There must have been a lot of sacrifices when growing up? BECKHAM: As a kid, I didn’t really go in for all the things my mates were doing. Of course, there were some nights where they were out down the park or meeting up with girls where I wished I was doing a bit more of that, but my focus was always on my weekend football matches, and I’d usually be playing Saturday and Sunday, so the idea of going out late to house parties or discos was just a non-starter really. Even when my mates got into drinking, I was still sitting at home watching football, learning the game, and practicing as hard as I could. That’s just who I was, and there are so many other footballers who have sacrificed all of those pleasures of growing up because they are so desperate to fulfill their ambitions and get to the top. STRIPLV: How is the ongoing vision for Inter Miami coming together? BECKHAM: Well, 2020 has been a bad year for realizing any real plans. The whole world has been put on hold, and that’s been frustrating given what’s been put in place and where we want to take the team and the club as a whole. Obviously, we’ve still been operational, but the uncertainty over the whole Covid situation makes any real planning extremely difficult. I think we’re going to have to write off 2020 as a very surreal year in the sport, at the same time realizing that sport has been put into the focus of being totally secondary to our families and our friends when the priority is making sure as many people as possible pull through this terrible thing. STRIPLV: How big can the franchise become? BECKHAM: Well, our aim is obviously to make it as big and as successful as possible, but we want to do it the right way. I am just about old enough to remember the MLS soccer of the 1970s, where the league was regarded as a bit of a graveyard for old players past their peak. It was great as a piece of showbusiness, and that is, of course, what the US has always been renowned for, but this is seriously big business now, and we are not here to put on a spectacle or to parade out old players whose best years are behind them. What we want to create here is a global club, a global entity, and one that can compete not just in the MLS but on a global scale. That’s what we’re here for, and everything is geared towards achieving that, from the stadium to the way we select young players who are full of potential. That was the key to so many years of success at Manchester United. The so-called Class of ’92 had all come up through the ranks, and we stayed together to lead the club to so many years of success. No one could get near us, and that’s what I want to repeat here. STRIPLV: You’ve always been very open about your private and family life, even admitting that at times it hasn’t been easy. BECKHAM: I don’t think anyone finds it easy, particularly when you have kids and busy lives. That’s the way it is, and you can have the biggest support network going. It all still takes real investment, real courage, and a huge amount of understanding. I am very proud of what we’ve achieved over two decades or so. Victoria is my world, just as she has always been, and my kids I am proud of every day. STRIPLV: Of course, the impression taken is that you have a perfect life free of all the stress. BECKHAM: Well, I can tell you that’s not the case. Of course, it’s hard, and we all need to muck in to make it work. STRIPLV: Are you still as passionate about fashion as you once were? BECKHAM: Yes, sure. I am married to a clothes designer so that will always be a big part of our lives. Victoria has brilliant ideas, and we are often the mannequins to those ideas. We’re the ones who can test out shapes and colors for her. She has such a clear vision of what she wants to do and doesn’t always appreciate it when I give feedback in return, or worse still when I put on a cardigan or pair of trousers that she doesn’t approve of. STRIPLV: How does the conversation go? BECKHAM: It usually starts with laughter and will move on to “Are you sure you want to wear that?” before ending with something closer to “Please change, we need to leave.” (Laughs)