David Beckham

“The spotlight will always be on me, but it's something I'm learning to live with as the years go by.” David Beckham, on joining MLS club LA Galaxy.

David Beckham has, arguably, become one of the most famous athletes of all time. The footballer was born on May 2nd 1975 in London, England. His career started when he was signed up with Manchester United and made his debut in 1992 at the tender age of 17.

In 2003, after an astonishing career with Manchester United which included helping the club win six Premier League titles, the FA cup twice and the UEFA Champions League, Beckham signed for Real Madrid, where he played for four seasons. In January 2007, Beckham was to make global headlines once more by moving clubs again, this time by netting an exclusive 5 year contract with LA Galaxy in America worth more than $6.5m per year. Since then, Beckham has seen the money keep rolling in, with lucrative merchandising endorsements and profit-sharing options included, he’s reportedly topping an annual salary of more than $50 million a year!

In international football, Beckham made his England debut on 1st September 1996, aged just 21 years old. Although he was denied a chance to play in 2010’s World Cup due to injury and has not appeared in Fabio Capello’s post World-Cup plans so far, Beckham has stated he is not going to retire from international football just yet and with an impressive 115 career appearances under his belt, who can blame him?

In 2005 Beckham became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and has recently pledged his support for the current ‘Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS’ campaign. Having been involved in many charities over the past several years, Beckham is also a key spokesman for ‘Malaria No More’, a New York City-based non-profit organisation launched in 2006. Malaria No More's mission is to end the deaths caused by malaria in Africa. He was also involved in promoting London's successful bid for the 2012 Olympic Games and has taken a key role in insuring that the new facilities created for this event will continue to be used to help vulnerable and disabled children in the UK long after the Olympic Games have finished.

Just as famous off the pitch as he is on it, Beckham married Spice Girl, Victoria Beckham - known around the world as “Posh Spice” in 1999 and have three children; Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz. Since then, Beckham has become well known for his status as an elite brand ambassador and top fashion icon. He has modelled for the likes of Armani, Gucci and Louis Vuitton, not to mention being linked to global brands like Pepsi, Gillette and Adidas.

His fame shows no sign of slowing down and having just recently received the prestigious Sports Personality Lifetime Achievement Award it appears David Beckham will be making headlines for some time to come!

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