David Robert Joseph Beckham (born 2 May 1975) is an English former footballer. He has played for Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, Milan, Los Angeles Galaxy, Paris Saint-Germain, and the England national team for which he holds the appearance record for an outfield player. He was the first English player to win league titles in four countries, England, Spain, the United States and France. He announced his retirement at the end of the 2012–13 Ligue 1 season and, on 18 May 2013, played the final game of his 20-year career.

Beckhams professional career began with Manchester United, where he made his first-team debut in 1992 aged 17. With United, Beckham won the Premier League title six times, the FA Cup twice, and the UEFA Champions League in 1999.He then played four seasons with Real Madrid, winning the La Liga championship in his final season with the club In July 2007 Beckham signed a five-year contract with Major League Soccer club Los Angeles Galaxy. While a Galaxy player, he spent two loan spells in Italy with AC Milan in 2009 and 2010. Beckham was the first British footballer to play 100 Champions League matches.

In international football, Beckham made his England debut on 1 September 1996, at the age of 21. He was captain for six yearsduring which he played 58 times. He made 115 career appearances in total, appearing at three FIFA World Cup editions (1998, 2002 and 2006) and two UEFA European Championship tournaments (2000 and 2004).

Renowned for his range of passing and free-kick ability, Beckham has twice been runner-up for FIFA World Player of the Year, and in 2004 he was named in the FIFA 100 list of the worlds greatest living players. Consistently ranked among the sports highest earners, in 2013 he was listed as the best paid player in the world, earning over $50 million in the previous 12 months.

He has been married to Victoria Beckham since 1999, and they have four children.In February 2014, MLS announced Beckham and a group of investors would own an expansion team in Miami, which would begin play in 2016 or 2017.

Having signed for Manchester United as a trainee on 8 July 1991, Beckham was part of a group of young players, including Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes, who were coached by Eric Harrison and guided the club to win the FA Youth Cup in May 1992. Beckham, who was issued with the number #6 jersey, scored Manchester Uniteds second goal in the 30th minute of their 3–1 first-leg win of the final against Crystal Palace on 14 April 1992. In the second leg on 15 May, Beckham played a full 90-minutes of the fixture which ended 3–2 in favour of Manchester United and 6–3 on aggregate. Beckhams impact led to a first-team debut on 23 September 1992, as a substitute for Andrei Kanchelskis in a League Cup match against Brighton & Hove Albion. Shortly afterwards, Beckham signed as a professional on 23 January 1993.

Manchester United would again reach the final of the FA Youth Cup, where they would face Leeds United. The first-leg was played on 10 May 1993, where Beckham, wearing the number #8 jersey, was featured in Manchester Uniteds 2–0 home loss and was substituted off of the field for Robbie Savage. In the second leg on 13 May 1993, Beckham played the entire fixture of Manchester Uniteds 2–1 defeat, which gave Leeds United a 4–1 aggregate score. Beckham would also receive honors with the clubs reserve-team, when the squad would win the league in 1994. In September 1994, Beckham went on to gain his first full appearance in the clubs first-team against Port Vale in a League Cup fixture. On 7 December 1994, Beckham made his UEFA Champions League debut, scoring a goal in a 4–0 victory at home to Galatasaray in the final game of the group stage. However despite the victory they finished third out of four in their group behind FC Barcelona.

Beckham made his first appearance for the England national football team on 1 September 1996, in a World Cup qualifying match against Moldova.

Beckham had played in all of Englands qualifying matches for the 1998 World Cup and was part of the England squad at the World Cup finals in France, but the teams manager Glenn Hoddle publicly accused him of not concentrating on the tournament, and he did not start in either of Englands first two games. He was picked for the third game against Colombia and scored with a bending 30 yard free kick in a 2–0 victory, which was his first goal for England.

In the second round (last 16) of that competition, he received a red card in Englands match against Argentina. Beckham, after having been fouled by Diego Simeone, kicked Simeone while lying on the floor, striking him on the calf muscle. Sports Illustrated was critical of the Argentinians theatrics in that incident, stating that Simeone first delivered a "heavy-handed challenge" on Beckham and then "fell like a ton of bricks" when Beckham retaliated.Simeone later admitted to trying to get Beckham sent off by over-reacting to the kick and then, along with other members of his team, urging the referee to send Beckham off. The match finished in a draw and England were eliminated in a penalty shootout. Many supporters and journalists blamed him for Englands elimination and he became the target of criticism and abuse, including the hanging of an effigy outside a London pub, and the Daily Mirror printing a dartboard with a picture of him centred on the bullseye. Beckham also received death threats after the World Cup.

The abuse that Beckham was receiving from English supporters peaked during Englands 3–2 defeat by Portugal in Euro 2000, a match where Beckham set up two goals, when a group of England supporters taunted him throughout the match. Beckham responded by raising his middle finger and, while the gesture attracted some criticism, many of the newspapers that had previously encouraged his vilification asked their readers to stop abusing him.

On 15 November 2000, following Kevin Keegans resignation as England manager in October, Beckham was promoted to team captain by the caretaker manager Peter Taylor, and then kept the role under new manager Sven-Göran Eriksson