Eighteen years after graduating from Manchester United’s youth academy, David Beckham today returns to where it all started.
Back then, the midfielder was just one more member of Manchester United’s FA Youth Cup-winning squad and still 18 months away from scoring his first goal for the club where he was to make his name.
Fast forward the best part of two decades and he finds him turning out for AC Milan. Deployed in central midfield, Beckham floundered in Milan’s 3-2 first-leg defeat, prompting United boss Sir Alex Ferguson to publicly question the judgment of his Milanese counterpart Leonardo.
Beckham and Ferugson have significant history. One of the Scots’ dressing room rages left the player needing stitches for a wound inflicted, just above his eye, by a flying boot.
Beckham did not last long at Old Trafford after that, Ferguson having tired of the celebrity circus that surrounded the England star.
But the acrimony that surrounded Beckham’s 2003 departure for Real Madrid appears to have dissipated and Ferguson has endorsed his former player’s claim to be part of England’s World Cup squad later this year, by which time he will have passed his 35th birthday.
Beckham, for his part, has never wavered from gracious acknowledgment of the United manager’s role in his professional and personal development and, as a result, acknowledges that this evening is unlikely to pass without a tear or two dropping on to the Old Trafford turf.
“Coming to terms with not being a United player was certainly the toughest thing I’ve ever had to deal with,” Beckham said recently.
“The relationship I have with the fans is still important to me,” he said. “I went through some difficult times but they never stopped supporting me.”
United fans have not forgotten Beckham’s determination, work-rate and love of the club he joined largely as a result of his father, Ted’s passion. It was that family connection that made the 2003 parting so painful.
When you are a Manchester United fan and a Manchester United player, you never want to play for anyone else,” he said. “United were the club I always wanted to play for and I loved every minute of my time there.”
“The thought of playing against them for Real Madrid always gave me that sick feeling because I just missed the club so much,” he said. “Obviously there will be big emotions [tonight] but I don’t think it will be a problem. I’ve played in a lot of big games.”
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