David Beckham
Appearances
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
Well, I'm an East End boy. So I'm from the East End of London. And obviously I started actually at Tottenham's Academy and Arsenal's Academy as a young kid. Ah.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
Yeah, West Ham wanted me to go down and train with them, but obviously at that point I was having to decide between Arsenal and Tottenham. My grandfather was a season ticket holder for 50 years at Spurs at Tottenham, so I decided to go with Tottenham. So I spent a couple of years training at Tottenham until I was 12 years old, and then Manchester United noticed me down in London.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
They invited me up to Manchester and that's when it all started and I moved up to Manchester when I was 15.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
In the world. I think the English have always had that mentality of build someone up, knock them down and then watch them get out of that again. And once they get out of that, there's a lot more respect there. But I think, you know, I made a mistake in 1998 with the red card and I owned up to that mistake.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
And then I had to spend the next three or four years trying to get through these games and the seasons and the abuse that I was getting. But I think, you know, to your point, Sean, that... I think one of the things that came out of the documentary is the fact that, you know, everyone in America remembers me playing for the Galaxy.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
They remember me playing for my country and also other teams that I played for, but they didn't know the story of what I'd gone through. So every time that I'm in Miami or LA or New York or somewhere in the US, people come up to me and were like, we didn't know that story. Like, just like you've said. And I suppose for a lot of people, the documentary was a reminder of,
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
firstly, how bad it was, and also for people to actually know the story. So it was quite hard talking for it, actually.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
Well, one of my, you know, and I talk about it in a documentary, after the World Cup, the place where I went was New York because Victoria was there with the Spice Girls and she was on tour and my escape was New York. So I thought, you know, no one really kind of knew me in the US at that point. They kind of knew who I was. Some soccer fans knew who I was, but actually me... Because of MLS, right?
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
Yeah, but me actually going there was... was an escape for me. But then the media was so intense at that point, you know, I kind of disappeared for a few weeks and then by the time I came back, I thought, and I talk about it in the documentary, I thought, oh, they'd have forgot everything and they didn't. So it was kind of difficult at the time. But obviously being...
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
being with a spy skill at that time they were at the height of their fame so you know it was kind of both worlds colliding and then you know and i think that's why probably i got you know some of the abuse that i got and in all honesty i accepted it i got on with it and i knew sure the only way of me getting over it was working harder and being protected by sir alex ferguson
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
white hot fame looks like that's the kind of treatment that you get so therefore need not take it too personally it's just that's the way they kind of do media there well i suppose you do think like that to a certain point but you do take a lot of the stuff that is going on personally you know some of the lot of the things that are being said but i i kind of knew deep down even though i'd not been through anything like that throughout my career up until that point
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
I knew deep down that I would be OK. I don't know how. I just knew that I was protected at Manchester United. I was protected by Sir Alex Ferguson. But the thing that I got upset mostly about was, you know, my grandparents got affected by it, my sisters, my parents. And that was what upset me more than anything. Yeah, yeah.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
Yeah, that was exactly what got me through. You know, obviously my friends and my family, you know, I've always had good close friends and my family are an incredible support for me. They always have been. And I've been lucky with that throughout my whole career, even at a very young age, my parents supported me with whatever I did.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
But the one thing that got me through on the football side was the support of Sir Alex Ferguson, was the support of Manchester United. And probably the biggest was my teammates and the fans. Because every other stadium that I went to around the world, I got abused. But at Old Trafford, you know, whenever I went over and took a corner or a free kick, you know, the whole stand...
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
I know. Yeah, that's so cool. That's insane. It was kind of amazing, actually.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
Well, we were all tight in all honesty. But obviously the lads that grew up together was me, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs. So we all grew up like that. That was the class of 92 because obviously we all came through in 1992. The Neville brothers. Those are the Neville brothers.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
That is exactly right. And he's always been the same. He's always been controversial. He's always been able to talk a lot. And the funny thing, the relationship between him and Jamie Carragher, they used to hate each other as players. They did. That rivalry was so intense, but they're best of friends now, which is amazing to see.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
I wish I was at home and I'd bring her in. Trust me, she's so jet. She actually said to me at breakfast, she was like, we should have done it. Why am I not doing it? That's true.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
To be honest, I was nervous about the whole thing. When I retired eight years before, or ten years before, it was actually ten years, I People wanted someone, they wanted me to do it then and there, there and then. And I wasn't actually ready to kind of look back. I was ready to kind of just jump into something else, which was the club in Miami.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
But then about two years out from my 10 year retirement kind of anniversary, we started to discuss it and talk about it and think, OK, maybe this is the right time. So I don't know. In all honesty, one of the reasons why I wanted to do the documentary was for my family. I wanted them to have something all in one place for them to watch and for them to look back and reminisce.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
And that's what really we created. You know, there was a hell of a story there from, you know, the upbringing to the different clubs that I played for to the ups and the downs. And my career was always... kind of a roller coaster. But obviously, I was very lucky to be as successful as I was because of the teams that I played for and the teammates that I had.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
Well, in all honesty, I'm shocked with the reaction to the documentary. I can't believe the reaction that we've had to the documentary.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
In my wildest dreams, I couldn't have, you know, I wasn't expecting all of what has happened since we brought it out. But, you know, with Chasing the High, you know, I knew that once I finished my career, I kind of planned it 10 years out, you know, before I retired. I didn't know when I was going to retire, but I always knew that I needed to step into something new.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
On the day that I retired, the day after, I knew that I'd have to go again because that's just how I was brought up. My parents worked really hard and they luckily, you know, built that into me. So I was ready to go straight after that. And nothing was going to replace, you know, the feeling of playing soccer, but I knew I needed to be busy. Right.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
Well, I announced I had to actually be finished playing soccer. So when I signed for L.A., I put that in my contract so I could buy a franchise at the end of my time of playing in L.A., And luckily they gave it to me. And it was for half the price of what they were worth at the time. And then obviously six years later, I was able to announce it. And then I was playing in Paris.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
My last game was in Paris. And the day after I flew to Miami and I announced the team in Miami. The day after. Wow. That's really cool.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
You know what? It's been one of the most challenging things I've ever done. I bet. Whether in my career or outside of my career in the business side. Because we had to jump over a lot of like – like hurdles along the way. There was so many difficult moments, you know, people turning around and saying Miami is a really difficult sporting city. Don't go there. Don't take the team there.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
But I had a feeling that that was where I wanted to take the team. And it took a long time to get it up and running. And we're still jumping through different challenges.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
But in all honesty, my vision from day one, when I presented the team and, you know, tried to put the logo together and the colors and all of that, the last slide of the presentation that I presented to the creative guys was a picture of Messi in the Miami jersey. So my dream was always to bring someone and him to our team. Unbelievable.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
It felt unbelievable. And I still can't believe it. Every time someone turns around to me and says, you have Messi in your team, you realize that, don't you? And it really is surreal, you know, to say that we have probably the greatest player to have ever played the game, the most successful player to ever play the game. And he's playing in Miami in the MLS.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
But Leo, his vision was always different. He turned around to me many years ago. He said, I love Miami. One day I want to live in Miami. And it stuck in my head. And I thought, I'm going to make that happen one day. If ever we ever get a chance to bring a player like him and his caliber to Miami, then that's what I want to do. So it took... a lot of time.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
We started the process four or five years before he came. Wow. I sneaked into his dad's hotel. You know, I said, I want to sign your son. I know he won't come now, but at some point we want to bring him to Miami. So we started the process five years out. And then all of a sudden, He decides to come and, yeah, I actually cannot believe. But you're right.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
You know, a lot of players were wanting to go and go into Saudi at the time. And he had a lot of offers, obviously, on the table. But he's very clever. You know, he's very clever. He knows... what a massive market the US market is, the opportunities that you can have. I think he also saw the life that me, the kids and my wife had in LA. And, you know, that was his decision.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
I know, yeah. Sergio Busquets. I know. I do get a little bit of stick from my Madrid mates because we're building a Barcelona team at the moment. So at some point, we might have to bring some Madrid players in. But yeah, it's very exciting.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
Yeah. you know, at the end of the day, you know, it's hard to be as big as, you know, baseball, American football, basketball, because, you know, it's just what it is. But I think we have a real opportunity with soccer in the MLS and in the US. And I was bullish back in 2007. I knew
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
That firstly, moving from Real Madrid to the LA Galaxy, when at that time, I think there was 13 or 14 teams in the league. The league wasn't as established as it was. There wasn't a big TV deal there. There wasn't a big Apple deal. You know, all of these things weren't in place. So I arrived and it wasn't as professional as I'm used to. But I knew that I wanted that challenge.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
I knew that I wanted, I always loved the US. I always wanted to live in US. And my decision at that time was criticized like quite heavily. And I was criticized as an athlete at that time. But I wanted that, you know, I wanted that challenge. And I could see, you know, what the future looked like in the MLS.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
And luckily, there's been a lot of people that have really put a lot behind, you know, this league. And now it's gone from one extreme to the other. And now, you know, we need to continue to grow it.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
Don't you start crying again. I love Jurgen Klopp so much. I must admit, even as a Manchester United fan, I love Jurgen. I love his character. I love his personality. You know, I love what he brings to the sport. And, you know, to hear him say that he's leaving Liverpool, and obviously being a Manchester United fan, I'm going to get killed by some of my Manchester United friends. Who cares?
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
No one's listening. I'm sad to see him leave. I'm sad. You know, what he's done for the club and what he's done for the sport...
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
Because I really want young people to play. In all honesty, when I came in 2007, I sat with the commissioner. I said, okay, talk to me about the academies that run through the MLS. He said, we don't have any. I said, okay, well then every team has to have an academy. And I'm proud to say that every team now has academy systems that run from 12 years old up until 23.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
And we in Miami, that's one of the most exciting things for me You know, the academy, because we had six young kids in our first team last year. And those are the things that you need to do. You know, and also you need to do that, but you also need to bring stars. You know, bringing Leo to the league wasn't just about, you know, giving a gift to...
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
the US and the MLS and obviously to the Miami fans, it was more about what he can do for our academy players.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
No, I'm a Lakers fan. I've always been a Lakers fan. And then obviously when I moved to LA, I was able to go to the games every week and I made sure that I go to the game every week. And what I found a little bit strange, and I always say it, that even through the early games and the middle of the season games, two minutes to go, people are leaving. and going home.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
But Kobe was on the call. So there was no way I was not going to watch every second of Kobe being on the court.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
We all do. He's got great arms. What is the arms? Why has he always got his arms up?
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
No, I don't run for it. I don't run for it. You really? No. God, I do. I really don't. It's just, you know, it's been part of my life for a long time. And, you know, everything happens for a reason. I had to go through that difficult time, you know, to maybe... made me have the career that I had.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
I'm so happy. Without crying, answer the question. I am very happy. I'm very happy because, you know, I feel very blessed to have had the career that I've had and played for the teams that I have and experienced that. And the one thing that I always wanted for me I was lucky I met Victoria when I met her because I always wanted to have kids young.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
I always wanted to have kids that lived through my career with me. And I was lucky the three boys all lived through most of the teams that I played for.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
I mean, that's just nuts. And you're still married. And we're still married, yeah. 20, 25 years in July.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
And that's one of the things I think we both, me and Victoria, probably both get emotional about. And after watching the documentary, after everything was over and we watched it finally, that's the one thing that we looked at each other and was like, I don't know how we got through this. you know, the last 27 years, but we did and we have an amazing family.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
We have amazing businesses and we're happy. And yeah, of course, when you're with someone for that amount of time, of course, you have your ups and downs. Everybody knows that. And at the end of the day, we were lucky because we had each other at those moments. You know, she was a Spice Girl. I was playing for Manchester United.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
And even when we were going through the difficult times, we actually had each other to feed off. And that was the best part. You know, obviously we were 21 and 22 when we met. We got married when we was 23 and 24. And we had our first son when he was 23. So as soon as we had our first son,
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
Brooklyn, you know, that really also added another layer to obviously the family and our responsibilities then were to our son.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
I think throughout my career, I was lucky to go into different things, whether it was being the face of, you know, certain, you know, brands and things like that. And I was able to work with great people over the years. You know, I've been with...
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
adidas for almost 30 years now so a lot of the people that and brands that i have and partners that i have are long-term partners so the business was something i was always interested in you know even from a young age i knew that the moment i stopped playing i wanted to have another life after that in the business world and in all all honesty you know putting the miami part was in was a big part of the legacy that i wanted to leave you know in the game
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
You know, I wanted to be an owner of a team. I wanted to be in the U.S. So if I got the opportunity to do that, that was what I wanted. But on the business side, you know, there's a lot of things that have continued throughout my business. And I'm lucky to have, you know, the business that I have. But it's something that I always wanted to do.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
I'm so much more busier than I was when I was a player because in all honesty... You're supposed to take it easy now. I know.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
I know, but I enjoy that part of it. I enjoy to travel. I enjoy to work. And in all honesty, that's a big part of my business. So that part of my life, I enjoy it.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
Um, Stone Roses. Love the Stone Roses. Love the Stone Roses. I'm a big Stone Roses fan because obviously growing up in Manchester, you know, in the 90s, it was all about Stone Roses, Oasis.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
I was actually, my daughter started trying to ask me some slang the other day. She was like, Dad, you always talk about these like slang words as a cockney. And I was like, okay, I'm trying to, because I don't really want her to start talking slang in all honesty. So I was like, okay, so Harper, you've just run up the apple and pears. And she was like, what do you mean?
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
She was like, well, that's what it is. It's stairs. You know, you've just run up the apple and pears. So I've been trying. Apple and pears? Yeah. Apple and pears? Yeah. Those kind of Cockney, you know, slang she started to ask about. But, you know, Victoria would kill me. She would kill me if I was trying to teach her those kind of words and things. Yeah, she would be happy. Oh, really?
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
Well, you know, I'm from the east end of London, so I grew up on it's pie and mash. So it's simple. It's a mince pie. It's your most simple mash. No butter, just salt. And then it's like a gravy called liquor. And it's stewed eels and parsley.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
It's a thrill for me to be on here. I'm a big fan of all you guys and obviously what you do. And to be on here is a huge privilege. So thank you.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
She actually said to me, you can bring the looks and I'll bring the humor. That's what she said this morning. Her words, not mine. Let's all have bangers and all that stuff without the eel when you're here. Well, you're invited to come to Miami or when you come to London and we'll go to have pie mash. I would love that. Fantastic.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
He's amazing. It took us a while to find him as a director. You know, I looked for a long time for the right person to help me tell the story. And the moment I met him, I knew he was firstly, unfortunately, he was a Liverpool fan like you, Will. But other than that, he's a great guy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
I'm actually in London. Okay. I've been in the office all day, and then I have a premiere of a Friends series on Netflix tonight, so I'm heading there after here, but that's why I've got a shirt and tie on. Yeah, I was going to say.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
This is Guy Ritchie's series tonight. So he's doing the Gentleman series. I've seen the movie, but the series he's been working on for a while, so I'm heading there tonight. I think he's a great director.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
To be honest, not at all. You know, I never feel pressure on that side. You know, I think, you know, my wife added to the fashion side of my life when we met 27 years ago. But even before then, you know, I was always into fashion, even at eight years old, when I tell the story about when I was...
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
page boy at one of our uh friends weddings my mom's friend's wedding uh and she asked me if i wanted to wear a suit or she wanted to or i wanted to wear tights and a pair of ballet shoes and i chose the tights and ballet shoes so i and in all honesty i never feel pressure um i enjoy wearing suits i enjoy wearing casual clothes but i never feel the pressure to to look in any certain way
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
Yeah, I do a lot for the Fashion Council, which they made me... Sounds like the Ministry of Magic. They kind of made me an ambassador of the Fashion Council. And it was something that I was quite surprised about. But in all honesty... It's something that I've loved to be part of because it's about the new generation and the next generation of, you know, talented young designers.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
And that's what I love doing. You know, the work that I do on the charity side, the work that I've done on the soccer side over the years is all about the young talent and bringing them through. It's one of the reasons why I started the team in Miami, because I was excited about the talented players that we have in Florida. in South Florida, and obviously in Miami.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
And that excited me more than anything. So, you know, stepping into the fashion world in that way was exciting for me.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
If it fits right, then it's comfortable. So most of the time it does. So I feel okay doing that. But most of the day you'd like to be in sweats and a t-shirt.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
Well, to be honest, I was a fan of Ozark, so I saw those thighs quite a lot of times. Take your time through this section, David. They look good. Thank you.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
To be honest, I very rarely go to the shows other than my wife's show. You know, I've gone to a couple of shows over the years, but I don't go to as many as people think I do. But the ones that I have to go to now and I want to go to, obviously, are my wife's ones. So I enjoy that.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
She doesn't yet. She made me a pair of jeans, actually. She should send you a pair and they fit well. So she made me a pair of jeans the other day. So we'll see. I don't know what she's going to go into next, but she's doing very well. She's a very hardworking woman. So yeah, we'll see. She's always looking for new projects.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
Well, she gave me a big kiss because obviously it was quite an emotional one for her. These shows are always emotional for obviously the work that she puts in and then it's over in like eight minutes.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
Yeah, I know. I know. I'm like, what? It is amazing. But she was emotional because she's also got a broken foot at the moment. Oh. Yes. So she broke her foot. Funny story. We went skiing. She came for two days. She kept on saying, I'm not going to ski. I'm not going to ski because I've got too much going on. So she then went home after two days, left me with all the kids.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
She was stretching in the gym. And by the way, Victoria is the biggest fan of the podcast, by the way. Is she? Oh, no way. We love her. This morning, I don't think I've actually never had so many texts from her during the day on the lead up to this. She literally texted me at three o'clock. She was like, have you done the podcast yet? And I was like, no.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
And then this morning at breakfast, she was like, okay, I'm going to give you some. Don't try and be funny." She said, you guys usually focus on actors and not so much athletes. Obviously, I've listened to a few of the athletes you've had on, but she was like, don't talk too much about soccer because these guys are intelligent.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
And all the people that are listening to these podcasts are people like me, she said. So she said, I don't want to listen to soccer the whole way through this.
SmartLess
"David Beckham"
By the way, this is the first time I'm hearing this, so I'm just agreeing with you, Will. It's just, you know, I agree.