At the start of December 2024, LA Galaxy claimed glory in the MLS Cup, effectively being crowned champions of the USA and Canada (the latter boasts three sides in the competition). It was the sixth title for the franchise and will have brought mixed emotions for David Beckham.
Becks spent six seasons with the club and played a massive role in raising the profile of both the club and the sport of football (or soccer!) in the States. However, as part of the deal that took the former Real Madrid man to the club, he was given the option to purchase an MLS franchise in the future at a heavily discounted rate.
In 2014, the wheels started turning on that agreement and Inter Miami, of which he is the co-owner, played their first season in MLS in 2020. Inter, who boast Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets on their playing staff, were well fancied to win the MLS Cup in 2024. It wasn’t to be, as they were surprisingly beaten by Atlanta in the first round of the playoffs, despite having come into them as the top-ranked side in the whole competition.
Beckham’s wait for a major piece of silverware as an owner goes on, although Inter did win the Leagues Cup in 2023, plus the Eastern Conference title and Supporters’ Shield in 2024. However, over his long career as a player, Becks won just about everything going. In the same way that his shrewd dealings to obtain an MLS franchise on the cheap confound the notion that he is not the most intelligent chap around, his vast silverware haul rather suggests those that claim he was far from brilliant as a player may be wrong too.
Wins It All at Manchester United
In all Beckham played 394 games for Manchester United, scoring 85 goals in total. In each of his final eight seasons with the Red Devils, he played 40 games or more and scored at least eight goals, reaching double figures four times and peaking with 16 goals from 43 games in 2001/02. He truly was an integral part of one of United’s best teams and during his long association with the club, he won masses of silverware.
He boasts 80 Premier League assists, and whilst Mo Salah may push him out of the all-time league top 10 on that metric, it is still a very impressive number for a man who played far fewer games than some of the names above him. His assists more often than not came from wonderful crosses, be that from corners, freekicks or open play, whipped in with his magical right foot. And they helped United win a lot of games over the years.
Six Premier League Titles with Man United
📅 On this day, 30 years ago, a young David Beckham scored the first goal of his Manchester United career. 😎
The rest is history. ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/rEnJPVxOif
— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) December 7, 2024
Beckham picked up six Premier League titles with the Red Devils, the first of those coming in the 1995/96 campaign. After one game Alan Hansen, reacting to United’s opening day 3-1 loss to Aston Villa, famously remarked that “you can’t win anything with kids”. However, when you have talent like Beckham included among those “kids” you can, and they certainly did.
United would go on to win the double that season and again in 1998/99. Or, more accurately, we should say that in 1998/99 they won the treble, as Beckham earned a Champions League winners’ medal as well. With central midfield legends Roy Keane and Paul Scholes (the latter another of Hansen’s kids) both suspended, Becks played in an unfamiliar role in central midfield against Bayern Munich.
United may not have been at their best, as one would expect when missing both Keane and Scholes, but in the end they did enough. Beckham was involved in both of United’s late goals and winning the Champions League with his boyhood team must have been his proudest moment in club football.
Beckham’s Trophy Haul
In all, Beckham won nine major trophies with United, or 12 if you include a trio of not-really-major ones. These are summarised below:
- 1 Champions League – 1999
- 6 Premier Leagues – 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2003
- 2 FA Cups – 1996 and 1999
- 2 Charity Shields – 1996 and 1997
- 1 Intercontinental Cup – 1999
Whilst he never got his hands on the League Cup, that remains a phenomenal haul and whilst he would go on to have more success, he surely enjoyed his best days at Manchester United.
Galactico-Era Madrid Fail to Hit Heights
On the 1st of July 2003, Beckham officially became a Real Madrid player, having previously seemed bound for Barcelona. Madrid president Florentino Perez pipped his Barca counterpart to the deal, with Joan Laporta hugely disappointed to miss out on Beckham. Critics argue that both clubs were more interested in Beckham’s commercial value than anything else but it seems reductive to suggest that a player who won the CL with United and was then desperately sought by both Spanish giants was only valued for his ability to sell shirts and raise a club’s profile.
Real paid €37m to secure the services of the England star during their “Galacticos era”, and fielded him alongside Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, Ronaldo (R9) and their other stars. It never really worked out for that side though, and whilst Becks won the Spanish Super Cup in 2003, his only real silverware with Real was the 2006/07 Liga title.
LA Calling
After four seasons in the Spanish capital which brought 20 goals from 155 appearances, Beckham surprised the football world by moving to LA. He was handsomely remunerated, both in basic salary, commercial deals, the raising of his profile and of course the franchise agreement, but even so, it was a shock.
He and his family really enjoyed their time in Los Angeles, the football, the climate and perhaps most of all, the relative anonymity that came from being a “soccer player” in a city of film, music and other sports that meant far more to the average Angelino. And it was good on the pitch too, as Beckham helped Galaxy to two MLS Cup wins and the final in 2009.
One More League Title in France
The Leytonstone lad moved to Paris and PSG, after a couple of loan stints in Italy with Milan, “Posh and Becks” working their way around the world’s major cities. He only played 14 games for the Parisians but won the Ligue 1 title in 2012/13, making it four different countries where he had won the league. Not a bad haul alongside his England caps, a Ballon d’Or runner-up (1999) and two silvers in the FIFA World Player of the Year (1999 and 2001).