Overview

David Beckham is the greatest and best loved footballer. Famous both on and off the pitch, the footballing legend has reached iconic status across the world. From the joyous screams of young girls to the chants of support from gruff-voiced football fans, everywhere David Beckham goes it is evident that he has captured the love of the nation. In 2003, David Beckham was awarded an OBE for his services to football, and now, with his outstanding popularity still reaching far and wide, he is in a position to receive the ultimate honour - a knighthood from the Queen. This amazing biography traces the incredible accomplishments of this kind-hearted and talented star. First playing for Manchester United's first team at the age of 17, he became a household name a few years later with a breath taking goal against Wimbledon. Now, over a decade on, he is the fifth most-capped English player of all time and the only one to score in three different World Cups. Like his fame, David Beckham's achievements extend far beyond the football pitch. He has supported the UNICEF since his early days at Manchester; in January 2005 he became a goodwill ambassador for the charity and in July 2005 e opened football academies in LA and London. This is the inspiring story of an extremely talented and devoted man - an honest and complete portrait of how the golden boy of English football had manager to take this and many other countries by storm.

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9781844544165

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Reviews

Celebrity biographer Russell (Arise Sir Tom Jones, 2007, etc.) chooses as her latest subject the phenomenally popular soccer star.Beckham isn't merely a very skilled athlete, she suggests, but an icon deserving a knighthood. This is a difficult claim to make since he doesn't come across as unusually culturally or socially active. In chronological fashion, Russell recounts Beckham's already well-known history: childhood soccer prodigy, Manchester United star, romance with wife Victoria (aka Posh Spice), move to Real Madrid and finally a quarter-billion-dollar contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy. Along the way, the author works hard to demonstrate that Beckham is deeper than the average celebrity. She points out that, although he works in the hyper-macho world of competitive sports, he enjoys fashion and accepts his status as a sex symbol to gay men. (While unusual among athletes, this isn't quite on par with Dennis Rodman wearing drag or Billie Jean King defeating Bobby Riggs.) Russell's effort to paint Beckham as beyond mere celebrity superficialities, however, is undercut by the fact that she goes out of her way to attach a dollar value to just about everything he gets or owns, from salary and cars to homes and jewelry. The biography reads like little more than a puff piece gleaned from dozens of tabloid clippings. It chronicles events familiar to any Beckham fan, including his turbulent relationship with Manchester's old-school manager, Alex Ferguson, the births of his children and the rumors of infidelity that rocked the perception of Beckham as, in Russell's hyperbolic words, the world's best husband and father. Fawning biography of a not particularly complicated celebrity, containing few surprises and little insight. (Kirkus Reviews)

Author Information

Gwen Russell is a highly successful journalist and author who has specialised in the celebrity circuit. She is currently based in bath. Her previous titles include Jeremy Clarkson: The Biography.

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