David Beckham was born David Robert Joseph Beckham on May 2, 1975, in Leytonstone, London, England. Beckham knew he wanted to be a footballer since he was a kid. His parents were avid supporters of Manchester United. Beckham attended a Bobby Charlton football school in Manchester and later played for Ridgeway Rovers, a local youth team his dad coached. He began his youth career at Tottenham Hotspur and later Brimsdown Rovers before signing a Youth Training Scheme contract with Manchester United in 1991.

He Made His Club Career Debut With Manchester United in 1992

David Beckham made his senior club career debut with Manchester United in 1992 at the age of 17. He played for United for 9 seasons from 1992 – 2003. During these periods, Beckham went on loan at Preston North End from 1994 – 1995. During his 9 year spell at United, Beckham won 6 Premier League titles, 2 FA Cup titles, and a UEFA Champions League title in 1999.

In the summer of 2003, he joined the Spanish club Real Madrid on a 4-year deal worth €35 million. He won the La Liga title in 2007, his final year with the club. Beckham then joined MLS’s LA Galaxy on a five-year contract worth US$32.5 million. He returned to Europe on loan to Italy’s AC Milan in 2009 and 2010. After his spell at LA Galaxy ended in 2012, he signed a 5 month deal with the French Ligue 1’s PSG.

Beckham also played international football with the England National team. He made his debut on 1 September 1996 at the age of 21. He captained the England team for 6 years. Beckham ended his two-decade-old football career in 2013. The year he retired, Beckham was named the world’s highest-paid footballer with a total earning of over $50 million from the past 12 months. He frequently ranked among the highest earners of the game thanks to his marketable abilities.

Life After Retirement and How He Makes His Money

During his football career, Beckham earned more from off-pitch duties and after retirement, he kept up with these duties. For example in his final year as an active athlete, Beckham earned about $50 million and just $5.3 million came from his salary playing for PSG, he earned over $40 million from lucrative endorsement deals. Beckham has moved from representing luxury brands to establishing his own brand. His Beckham brand is said to be more valuable than the British royal family.

In Forbes list of highest-paid retired athletes 2016, Beckham ranked 2nd place behind Michael Jordan with total earnings of $65 million. Contributing to his earnings are his 5-year deal with Kent & Curwen worth $8 million per year, and a $5 million a year deal with Chinese real estate company, Luneng. Beckham has a lifetime endorsement deal with Adidas worth $160 million. Beckham edged closer and established himself as a co-owner of Miami MLS in January of 2018, which saw him join the billionaires club.

A Look at David Beckham’s Tattoos

David Beckham has more than 50 tattoos on his body. All his tattoos have meanings, representing and talking about the important people in his life as well as his religion. The football player reportedly started applying ink on his skin in 1999 after the birth of his eldest son Brooklyn and has since then never stopped. Most of the ink is done by a renowned Manchester-based tattoo artist named Louis Molloy.

Upper Body Tattoos

A Gothic-style winged cross just above the name of his son Romeo on his neck and upper back area is perhaps the most popular tattoo on Beckham’s body. Beneath them, he has a guardian angel boldly inked between his shoulder blades and the name of his youngest son Cruz written just below it. Brooklyn, his eldest son’s name, appears across his lower back. He also has the name of his daughter Harper tattooed on his neck. On her fourth birthday, the words “Pretty Lady” were inscribed just above it. Other words on his neck include “Dadda” and “Buster”.

Going to his arms, David Beckham has a tattoo of an angel and two cherubs with the words “In the face of adversity” inked on his right shoulder. Below the angel, there is a filler of clouds with another angel appearing below that and the words, “Let them hate as long as they fear”. The words “Pray for me” further appears on the arm while the name of his wife Victoria and a hummingbird are on his wrist.

On the left arm, there is a drawing of Cupid and Psyche, based on Francesco Francia’s 15th-century painting. He also has the number seven, a number he wore for both Manchester United and England, inked in Roman numerals on his forearm along with the Latin phrase “Ut Amem Et Foveam”. There is also a picture of Victoria with the phrase “forever by your side” beneath the tattoo. He added a chain of 10 roses to mark their 10th anniversary.

For his chest, Beckham went with a tattoo of Jesus being carried by three cherubs on the left side. This is believed to represent him and his three sons. On the right side, there is a scene of a woman in a forest. An image of Jesus appears below his ribcage on the right side while Chinese symbols that translate to “Death and life have determined appointments. Riches and honor depend upon heaven” appears on the left side.

Lower Body Tattoos

David Beckham prefers to ink his upper body, particularly his arms, as that is the part of his body with the most tattoos. For many years, his lower body remained without tattoos but that has since changed. On his left leg, the retired football player has the head of a lion inked on his thigh while there are a pair of running cherubs inked just below the calf.

Learn more about all his body arts here.

David Beckham Met His Wife Victoria Adams in 1997

David Beckham started dating Victoria Adams in 1997. The two met when Victoria, who was a member of the pop music group Spice Girls and was popularly known as Posh Spice, attended one of Manchester United matches. They soon started dating and their relationship was all the media could talk about as they gave them the nickname Posh and Becks.

On January 24, 1998, in a restaurant at Cheshunt England, David proposed to Victoria and she accepted. They got married at Luttrellstown Castle in Ireland on July 4, 1999, in a wedding ceremony which the media was shut away from. Their infant son Brooklyn, who was born four months prior, served as the ring bearer.

The duo has since gone ahead to welcome three more children; sons Romeo James and Cruz David and daughter Harper Seven.

Victoria Beckham

• Date of Birth: 17 April 1974
• Occupation: Singer, Fashion Designer, Television Personality

Victoria Beckham is the eldest of three children born to Jacqueline Doreen (née Cannon) and Anthony William Adams. Her mother worked as an insurance clerk and hairdresser while her father was an electronics engineer. The couple eventually founded an electronics wholesale business.

Victoria did not follow in the footsteps of any of her parents as she was instead interested in becoming a musician. Her interest in music particularly grew after she watched the musical film, Fame (1980). After studying the art form as well as dancing and modeling at Jason Theatre School and Laine Theatre Arts in Epsom, Surrey, she joined the Spice Girls in 1994. She rose to prominence with the all-girl group that became the best-selling female group of all time.

After the group split in 2001, David Beckham’s wife launched a solo singing career and became internationally recognized as a style icon and fashion designer. She collaborated with many brands across the world before launching an eponymous label in 2008.

Brooklyn Beckham

• Date of Birth: 4 March 1999
• Occupation: Model

Brooklyn Beckham was born at The Portland Hospital in Marylebone, London, England. He, however, grew up in Madrid and Los Angeles where his father was playing for Real Madrid and LA Galaxy. The young man had hoped to follow in his father’s footsteps to become a footballer but has since shelved those ambitions. He played in the Arsenal F.C. Academy but left in 2015 after he was not awarded a scholarship to remain with the academy.

The year before abandoning his footballing aspirations, however, Brooklyn had begun modeling and has since appeared in magazines like Vogue China, Miss Vogue, T:The New York Times Style Magazine, Interview, L’Uomo Vogue, and Dazed Korea. In 2017, he enrolled at Parsons School of Design at the New School in New York to pursue a photography degree.

In July 2020, Brooklyn announced that he was engaged to American actress Nicola Peltz.

Romeo James

• Date of Birth: 1 September 2002
• Occupation: Undetermined

Romeo James Beckham was born during the latter stages of his father’s time as a Manchester United player on the 1st of September 2002 at Portland Hospital, London. He spent the first year of his life in England before the family moved to Spain in July 2003 as David joined Real Madrid.

As a child, Romeo suffered from repeated bouts of epilepsy. Because of this, he was shielded from the paparazzi and all the media attention by his parents. The public never knew of this diagnosis until 2006 when a cameraman tried to take a photo of him at Heathrow Airport. Victoria shielded him and yelled at the photographer to leave her child alone before adding: “He’s got epilepsy. All that flashing will start an epileptic fit. You can’t do that.”

Romeo has since grown up and is now taller than his father. He reportedly hopes to become a professional tennis player although he had also played football in the Arsenal Academy. Like his father and older brother, Romeo has also done some modeling.

Cruz David

• Date of Birth: 20 February 2005
• Occupation: Undetermined

Cruz David is the youngest of David and Victoria Beckham’s three boys. He was born on the 20th of February 2005 at Ruber International Hospital, Madrid, Spain but was raised in Los Angeles, California, USA. His parents chose to name him the Spanish name Cruz because it translates to “cross” in English.

Like his older brothers, Cruz played football at the Arsenal Academy. It is not clear if he has abandoned his ambition of becoming a footballer just yet but it appears that he is also following in his mother’s footsteps to become a singer as both his parents have shared videos of him singing songs like Twista and Faith Evans’ “Hope” and Anna Kendrick‘s Pitch Perfect song, “Cups”.

Harper Seven

• Date of Birth: 10 July 2011
• Occupation: Undetermined

Harper Seven Beckham is the last of the Posh and Becks kids and their only daughter. She was born on the 10th of July 2011 at the Cedar Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, California. Her arrival brought great joy to her parents who previously had three boys. This is evident in the fact that her father has more tattoos of her on his body than any of his children. Victoria, on the other hand, was inspired to create a new clothing line at Target that lends to the “Mom-and-Me” clothing trend. The two are often spotted with almost matching attires.

What is David Beckham’s Net Worth?

Together with wife Victoria, The Beckhams have a combined Net Worth of $730 million, making them one of the richest families in Hollywood. David Beckham on his own has a net worth of $450 million as of 2020.