We won 3–2 and it was during that game I scored my first-ever
free-kick at first-team level. It was just outside the area and I fancied
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it. Gary Peters had put me on the free-kicks, and this one couldn’t have
gone better. I don’t remember the goal so much as the celebration. I
ran away with my arm in the air and one of the Preston players grabbed
my head and started pulling my hair so hard I thought he was going to
pull a handful out. Absolutely killed me. It might seem obvious, but I
think a lot of people don’t realize just how much goals and results matter
to players. For the lads at a club like Preston, back then anyway, it was
about playing and trying to pay your mortgage and keep up with the
bills like anybody else. It gave the soccer the sort of edge I’d never
experienced. The looks in the other players’ eyes just told me how
strong their desire was, how badly they wanted, and needed, to win
the game. It was the same with the supporters. The club was the heart
of the town; it had this long, proud history and people absolutely lived
for Saturday afternoons and the match. I was lucky. They were great
and took to me right off.
I’ve had some amazing experiences since but, truthfully, that month
at Preston was one of the most exciting times in my whole career. I
remember thinking then that if the boss had been looking to let me go,
I could have been happy playing for Preston North End. When it came
time, at the end of the loan, to go back to United, I didn’t want to leave.
How worried had I been beforehand? How nervous had I been when
I got to Preston? Just four weeks later and here I was, asking Mr
Ferguson
if I could go and stay on with them for another month.
The answer was: ‘No’. No explanation or anything. By the end of that
same week, I understood why the manager wanted me back. There
was an injury crisis at Old Trafford and the teamsheet for Saturday’s
Leeds game had my name on it: I was about to make my League debut
for Manchester United at Old Trafford. After five really competitive –
and physical – first-team games for Preston, I felt ready for the next
step forward. More to the point, the boss thought I was, too. I was
more prepared than I had been for those games against Brighton and
Galatasaray, for sure. For an afternoon, at least, I could put any doubts
to one side. It seemed like United and Mr Ferguson thought I did have
a chance after all.
I knew that, for all the excitement of winning an FA Youth Cup and
the thrill of playing those games for United in the Cups and Preston in
Division Three, I hadn’t achieved anything yet. But maybe this was my
time to show that, one day, I might. It wasn’t just me, of course. Nor
was it just my generation. It’s still true now: just ask Wes Brown or John
O’Shea or Kieran Richardson. The manager has always had faith in the
players who have been produced at the club. One of the best things
about coming through the ranks at Old Trafford is that the boss involves
the younger players in training – and gives them a game, too – as soon
as he feels they’re up to it. He believes in the lads who have grown up
at the club and, above everything else, that’s something for which my
generation will always feel grateful to Alex Ferguson. The future isn’t a
responsibility he hands over to someone else. When I was a boy, he
knew who David Beckham was. Once I’d signed for United, he was
following my progress the whole time: coming to games, watching
training, talking to Eric and the other coaches about how I was
getting on.
When it comes to making a League debut, or even getting a start in
a Cup game for United, you already feel like you’re part of the first-team
set-up. That makes it easier for any young player to relax and do his
best when he’s given his chance. With me, it seemed like I’d been
involved at least since I was a kid, warming up alongside my heroes at
Upton Park as club mascot for the afternoon. By the time I was ready
for United’s first team, I already got on well with the senior players. It
wasn’t a case of: who’s this young so and so, coming in and thinking
he can take our place? I knew them all and, just as important, they
knew me.
As it turned out, my first Premier League game was a bit of an
anticlimax. There’s always a big atmosphere for Man United vs Leeds,
whether we’re playing at Old Trafford or at Elland Road, and the ground
was buzzing beforehand. It was an incredibly hot afternoon, though,
and the match was stifled because of that. It finished 0–0. I must have
done all right because I played a few more League games before the
end of that season and, by the summer, it felt as if, slowly but surely,
things were starting to happen. What I didn’t realize, and none of us
did, was that the manager had already seen enough and was ready to
take one of the biggest gambles of all time. The season 1995/96 was
the making of me. It was the making of all of us, thanks to a boss who
believed in us even before we believed in ourselves.
About David Beckham
After leading England's storied soccer club, Manchester United, to
four Premiership titles and two World Cup appearances over ten
years, David Beckham was traded to Spain’s Real Madrid for over
$41 million. Widely recognized as the most gifted athlete of a
generation, Beckham is married to former Spice Girl Victoria
Adams. They live in England, in what is commonly referred to as
“Beckingham Palace,” with their two sons Brooklyn and Romeo.
About Tom Watt
Tom Watt, who collaborated with David Beckham on this book, is
an established author, actor, sportswriter and broadcaster. He has
written three books on football – The End, A Passion For The
Game and The Greatest Stage – and currently presents sport for
BBC Radio.
Credits
Cover Artist
Corbis Corporation
Cover Artist 2
AP/Wide World Photos
Cover Photographer
Zuma Press
First published in Great Britain in 2003 by
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