Beckham's professional club career began with Manchester United , where he made his first-team debut in at age In international football, Beckham made his England debut on 1 September , at the age of He was captain for six years , earning 58 caps during his tenure. Beckham held the England appearance record for an outfield player until A global ambassador of football, Beckham is considered to be a British cultural icon.
Edmonton, London , , a kitchen fitter; the couple married in in the London Borough of Hackney. Beckham's maternal grandfather was Jewish , [32] and Beckham has referred to himself as " half Jewish " [33] and wrote in his autobiography "I've probably had more contact with Judaism than with any other religion".
His parents were fanatical Manchester United supporters who frequently travelled miles km to Old Trafford from London to attend the team's home matches. In a interview, Beckham said that, "At school whenever the teachers asked, 'What do you want to do when you're older? Young Beckham had trials with his local club Leyton Orient , Norwich City and attended Tottenham Hotspur 's school of excellence, though never represented the club in a match.
During a two-year period in which Beckham played for Brimsdown Rovers ' youth team, he was named Under Player of the Year in Beckham scored Manchester United's second goal in the 30th minute of their 3β1 first-leg win of the final against Crystal Palace on 14 April In the second leg on 15 May, Beckham played a full minutes of the fixture which ended 3β2 in favour of Manchester United and 6β3 on aggregate.
Shortly afterwards, Beckham signed as a professional on 23 January The first leg was played on 10 May , where Beckham started in Manchester United's 2β0 home loss but was replaced by substitute Robbie Savage. In the second leg on 13 May , Beckham played the full 90 minutes of Manchester United's 2β1 defeat, which gave Leeds United a 4β1 aggregate score.
