BECKHAM MY WORLD
BY HODDER & STOUGHTON
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SO U WANT TO BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM. WELL EVEN DAVID BECKHAM SPENT HOURS AND HOURS TRAINING ON THE PITCH. HAVING TALENT IS ONE THING BUT YOU STILL HAVE GOT TO WORK AT MAKING YOUR TALENT PERFECT. THAT IS WHAT DAVID BECKHAM SAYS IN HIS BOOK “BECKHAM MY WORLD”
“All I ever wanted to do was kick a football about. It didn't enter my head to do anything else. I think I was programmed by my dad to some extent. I knew he wanted me to be a footballer and he encouraged me to play when I was a kid enjoyed playing, whether it was in the garden or on a pitch with the Sunday Ieague team. It wasn't imposed on me, though, and I'm grateful for that. I had a friend who used to come to the park with us and his dad was really pushy.
He was always saying, 'You can't do that, you've got to do this.' My mate could have been a good player, but he just stopped wanting to play and has never been involved in football since. I'm glad it didn't turn out that way for me, but I realise that things could easily have been so different.
The problem is that when you want something so badly, it can start to get on top of you. I'd always wanted to play for Man United and I don't know what would have happened if I hadn't been given the chance. Maybe I wouldn't have ended up in football at all. I've always loved the game, but being given the
chance to play at Man United made the difference. When I had to make the decision about going to Manchester or staying in London and playing for Tottenham or Arsenal, my dad sat me down and said, 'These are the options. Here's what these people are offering you and this is what the others are offering.' We'd been up to Manchester, we'd been to Arsenal and Tottenham and he said, 'If you want to stay in London, then great. If you want to go up to Manchester, we'll be up every weekend watching you and supporting you. Just do what you want.'
For me, there was never any question of going to any other club. Still, if my parents hadn't been so supportive, I might not have been so ready to leave home at 16.1 might even have rebelled, though I wasn't really that sort of person.
Somehow my parents found the right balance and my dad gave me a strong sense of ambition, without overdoing it. Having my parents' support has been invaluable. They've always been there for me. My dad has only missed one or two games in the last eight years, including away games. He's a self-employed gas engineer, so he can arrange his work around the matches. It's been a financial drain but he works hard and he's never missed a Saturday game.
My mum and dad always bought me a football for Christmas, as far back as I can remember. I also had a new Man United kit every year and my grandad, my mum's dad, always bought me the new Tottenham kit. I had to put the Tottenham kit on when I went up my grandma and grandad's because it was my Christmas present and it made my grandad happy, but it didn't please my dad. There was always conflict there. My father's dad supported Arsenal and my dad hates Arsenal, so there was some rivalry between those two as well. I don't think I was pushed but my dad swayed me towards Man United. It was probably his greatest fear that I'd end up supporting Arsenal.
Dad played a lot of football himself. He always took me with him when he was playing and stayed behind to coach me for an hour afterwards. When I was 10 or 11, 1 was desperate to join in with him and his mates, but for ages he didn't let me because they were all too big. Eventually I was allowed to join in when he realised I could play a little bit.
The training he gave me as a kid has got me to where I am today. Since then I have always practised a lot. It is the only way to get to the top. Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo are two of the best players in the world, but although they obviously have amazing natural talent, they would never have achieved what they have without years and years of practice.
When I score from way out, people often say that it is a freak goal but it isn't. I have worked on taking shots at goal from way out since I was a kid.
I scored a couple of goals like that when I was playing for Ridgeway Rovers in the Sunday league. Even as a 13 year old, I could kick the ball a long way, further than most of the other kids, and I did it twice from the halfway line.
I remember getting mobbed by my mates the first time. We have always tried spectacular shots like that in training at United and I scored goals like that a couple of times in reserve matches.
It is only by practising that you get to score the spectacular goals which give you such a buzz. The long-range shot at Wimbledon is my all-time favourite. I remember seeing Neil Sullivan off his line and thinking I might
we'll go for it. I didn't even think to look where I was on the pitch. It was only then I saw the video that I realised how far out I was. That video tape has got a bit of a hammering. I've still got the boots somewhere. I never wore them again after that goal.I know my skills come from years of working with my dad in the local park. It all stems from how you are brought up. Sometimes you see Sunday league football with the players clattering into each other, but—my dad taught me technique. If I am teaching kids, the most important thing I try to get across is to enjoy the game and enjoy learning skills. That was the great thing about playing with my dad. We would work on passing, crossing and shooting for hours and hours. He was the biggest influence on me and taught me everything I know.
l would be in our local park, Chase Lane, from as soon as I got home from school until 11 o'clock at night all through my school days. If I was on my own, I would play keepy-uppy for hours. My mum was happy because she could always be certain where I was. I knew that I would have to put that work in to make it into the Manchester United first team. It is exactly the same philosophy I have now.
As a kid one of my big treats was when my dad got tickets for a match. It was a lot easier to get them back then and he'd take me to any game he could : mostly at White Hart Lane. When I got more involved with football, West Harr were trying to get me to play for them, and so were Tottenham and Arsenal. So I started getting free tickets and we were able to go all the time.
Football was drummed into me and it was all I wanted to do, all I wanted to know. I suppose it was an easy way to win my parents' approval. That approval has always been important to me. I even worried about what my mum and dad would think about me getting my hair cut. They hated it at first because everyone had always known me as the lad with the blond floppy hair and they didn't want me to lose that image. But they've got used to it now and my mum is pleased that I don't have to tuck my hair behind my ears any more when I'm playing. She hated that habit.
I was a cub and later went on to be a scout, both of which involved football, so I was happy doing that. Also, we'd go camping and it was great to go away with a group of friends. You learn quite a bit about yourself when you're away from your family. I'd like to go camping with Victoria but it's probably not safe now. Still, maybe we'll get to go one day.
I absolutely adored training on a Wednesday night with my Sunday league football team. Once, my mum and dad stopped me going to training as a punishment for something. That killed me. It was the worst punishment I could ever have had. They quite often grounded me when I wanted to go out, usually because I'd come in late, at 10 or 10.30 when they'd told me to be home by 9. Most of the time I did what they wanted but I stepped out of line sometimes, like most kids.
I don't drink much but I can remember the first time I got drunk. It was on Christmas Eve when I was 15 and I went to a party with a couple of friends. I wasn't allowed to go to many places at that age, but my mum let me out this time. I was sick before I got home, so the worst was over but when I got in, I said I'd eaten something bad. They never realised I was drunk. It put me off drinking.
I had one really, really good friend called John at primary school, but when we moved on, we went to different schools and sort of split up. We were never as good friends again. I had other friends at school and out of school, but no one like him. I was just into my football too much. On a Saturday night, my friends would be on the corner of the street with a bottle of Woodpecker and a fag or going to house parties, but I'd be in watching Match of the Day and going to bed early because I had a game the next morning. Sometimes I did want to go out with them but most of the time I was happy staying in. It was the Sunday morning match I looked forward to, which meant taking it easy the night before.
The only job I've ever had, apart from football, was collecting glasses at the Walthamstow dog track when I was 11 or 12.1 did it because I wanted extra pocket money. It was good money for my age, I was earning quite a bit and I did it with a couple of mates, so it was fun. I used to do every sport going at school. I'd get involved in anything, from rounders, baseball and softball to athletics and basketball. I played rugby every now and again and we used to do some swimming too, so I was a bit of an all-rounder. I didn't like being in the classroom much. I think it's important to get a good education, but football was the only thing on my mind. It was all I ever wanted to do. I wasn't very interested in school, so I can't remember much about the lessons, except for the art classes which I enjoyed. I don't want it to be like that for Brooklyn. We're already trying to read him books even though he's far too young to sit still for long enough. I hope the fact that he usually wants to eat them or kick them around on the floor doesn't mean that he takes after me in that way.”
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