In the new four-part Netflix series Beckham, we look at what the pair and other prominent people disclosed about their life, from why a “fuming” Sir Alex Ferguson kicked a football boot at him to what his boss truly thought about his relationship with Spice Girl Victoria.
A recent documentary explores the life of David Beckham, one-half of one of the most famous and well-known celebrity power couples in the world.
The former midfielder’s ascent to football success is followed in the four-part Beckham Netflix series through interviews with his wife Victoria and other well-known people.
Victoria finally speaking out about David’s rumoured affair has already been making headlines.
Here are more specifics on that discovery as well as additional tidbits about their life from the series.
The notorious boot event
Beckham, who is now 48, rose through the ranks under Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United before becoming a world-famous athlete.
However, there were several well-reported stormy moments between the winger and his boss, and Beckham ultimately left for Real Madrid.
During one argument, Sir Alex is famous for kicking Beckham in the face with his boot.
In the documentary, Beckham says that his former boss booted him in the boot after telling him to “f*** off”.
According to the Daily Mail, Beckham says of the incident: “We walked in the changing room and the boss is fuming. I can see it by his face.
“And when you see the boss’s face like this, you don’t want to be anywhere near him. It is a face that no one can do, trust me.
“[He was effing and blinding] and I went back at the boss and said ‘no’ and then I swore. I said the f-word.
“And then I saw him change, and I was like, ‘s***, I really shouldn’t have said that’. I think I said the f-word too many times.”
Later, when the midfielder was in practise, the injury was visible.
I kicked the boot at his head, Sir Alex told the film crew. Seriously, it was a quirk of nature.
He responds when asked about the pictures”Yeah I’m not going to talk about that. The only thing I will say is that I think that was stage-managed. It wasn’t even worth a stitch.”
It also turns out that the boot belonged to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, a former player who later became the manager of United.
The boot incident occurred after United’s chances of a domestic double or treble were dashed when they were defeated 2-0 by rival Arsenal in an FA Cup fifth-round match.
Sir Alex: David was “changed” by Victoria’s celebrity because of it.
The two also argued about David’s burgeoning famous status and his relationship with Victoria, whom they called “Posh and Becks” in reference to Victoria’s Spice Girls stage name.
The Sun reports that David says:
“I knew my career was going to come to an end at some point and I wanted a career after football – that ate away at the manager.
“He just wanted me to be the best footballer that I could be and be married to a local girl that wasn’t a superstar.”
He acknowledges that even before the couple started dating, his “life had become something different” because he began negotiating contracts with companies like Adidas.
Because he “liked nice things,” he began attracting more media attention and spending the tens of thousands as fast as he acquired them, although he later clarifies: “It definitely didn’t change me.”
However, Sir Alex, a straight-talking Scot, tells the documentary the following when asked about his burgeoning fame:
“Well, he changed. There’s no doubt about that.
“I think that media attention that he was getting, and becoming a celebrity, was different from what I wanted.
“Getting David to keep his feet on the ground became more difficult.
“He was a good little boy, and he was always well cut, so it was a great attraction for the media.”
Beckham also shares his sorrow about having to leave Manchester United the following year for Real Madrid.
He claims in the documentary that he begged Sir Alex to speak with him but was told that “he doesn’t want to talk to you.”
Beckham claims
“I said, ‘I need to speak to the boss, I need to know this is really what he wants’, and I pleaded to not go. I couldn’t get in contact with the boss.
“Did I ever want to leave Man United? No, never.
‘It was my home. My relationship with the boss was always special. We had our moments, but I still loved him.”
Sir Alex says their relationship “was at a stalemate”.
“There was not going to be any point in me saying to David, ‘I’m selling you’,” he added.
“The decision was made, it was better he went.
“He didn’t need to go. He could have stayed if he wanted. I think he knew it was the right time.”
Effects of David’s allegedly illicit relationship with Rebecca Loos
The “hardest period” of Victoria and David’s marriage, when David was allegedly conducting an affair with Rebecca Loos, is finally discussed by Victoria in another disclosure.
The alleged infidelity is supposed to have occurred in 2003, when he was playing for Real Madrid, and she claims she was “the most unhappy I have ever been” in the wake of it.
The accusations have never been accepted by the couple.
The Sun reports that Victoria discusses how the charges affected their relationship in excerpts from the documentary that were given to the publication.
“It was the hardest period because it felt like the world was against us,” she says.
“Here’s the thing – we were against each other if I’m being completely honest.
“You know, up until Madrid sometimes it felt like us against everybody else but we were together, we were connected, we had each other.
“But when we were in Spain, it didn’t really feel like we had each other either.
“And that’s sad. I can’t even begin to tell you how hard it was and how it affected me. It was a nightmare.
“It was an absolute circus – and everyone loves it when the circus comes to town, right? Unless you’re in it.”
The 49-year-old responds, “If I’m being completely honest, yes I did,” when asked if she “resented” her spouse. I have never been happier in my entire life than I was at the time.
The former England captain and Manchester United player’s alleged mistress is not mentioned in the documentary, the tabloid claims.
David responds to the accusations as well, saying: “There were some terrible things that were hard to deal with.
“It was the first time that me and Victoria had been put under that kind of pressure in our marriage.”
When asked how the couple survived that period, David becomes emotional, saying: “I don’t know.”
“I don’t know how we got through it in all honesty, Victoria is everything to me, to see her hurt was incredibly difficult but we’re fighters and at that time we needed to fight for each other, we needed to fight for our family and what we had was worth fighting for. But ultimately it’s our private life.
“There were some days I would wake up and I would think how am I going to go to work, how am I going to walk on to that training pitch, how am I going to look as if nothing is wrong… I felt physically sick every day when I opened my eyes.
“How am I going to do this?”
Speaking about the effect on son Brooklyn, now 24, David says: “He had to go through that and I don’t know whether it’s harmed him and I don’t know… I don’t know.”
How Posh revealed her pregnancy to Becks before a World Cup game
Brooklyn was the couple’s first child, and they also have Romeo, Cruz, and Harper. Brooklyn was born in March 1999.
In the documentary, Victoria says she told David about her first pregnancy the night before England’s World Cup match against Argentina, when her husband was famously given a red card.
England lost the encounter against Argentina in a penalty shootout after Beckham was dismissed for kicking Diego Simeone during the game.
Victoria called David from Brooklyn, New York, where she was at the time.
She claims:
“I told David the night before the game.
“He was so, so happy, we both were and there was never any doubt in my mind that I should tell him.
“I mean, it was what we wanted and he could not have been happier.”
She is asked: “So you tell him right before the biggest game of his life – did you think it would help him?”
Victoria replies: “I don’t really know.”
David then says: “Before the Argentina game, she phoned me and said I’ve just taken a test and I’m pregnant. So I found out then.
“The first thing I wanted to do (was get out of there and be with Victoria) but I couldn’t, we were in a major tournament.”
David was ‘clinically sad’ after his 1998 World Cup red card.
David was described as being “clinically depressed” by Victoria after receiving a red card during the 1998 World Cup.
The couple talks of the abuse they received after being sent off in the late 1990s.
An effigy of Beckham was hung in a bar after the game, and Manchester United’s squad bus was attacked with rocks and pint glasses during a road game against West Ham the following season.
Victoria says: “He was absolutely broken. He was in pieces.
“He was really depressed, absolutely clinically depressed.
“It pained me so much… I still want to kill these people.”
David adds: “I got abused every single day.
“To walk down the street and to see people look at you in a certain way, spit at you, abuse you, come up to your face and say some of the things they said, that is difficult.
“I wasn’t eating, I wasn’t sleeping. I was a mess. I didn’t know what to do.
“The boss (Alex Ferguson) called me. He said ‘David, how are you doing?’ I think I got quite emotional. He said ‘how are you doing, son?’. I said ‘not great boss’. He said ‘OK, don’t worry about it, son’.
“That was the only thing I could control, once I was on the pitch, then I felt safe.”
