David Beckham is widely considered one of the best wingers of his generation. He gained his stardom in the 1990s at Manchester United, coming through their youth system as part of the ‘Class of 92’. The Englishman was feared for his incredible crossing ability and free-kick prowess.
Beckham switched from a life at Old Trafford to becoming a part of Real Madrid ‘Galacticos’ in the early 2000s. However, the majority of his best moments came in a red shirt. Beckham is Manchester United through and through, often visiting Old Trafford to watch matches to this day.
Despite his undisputed love for the Red Devils, Beckham has also shown his admiration for some of England’s other major clubs. While he definitely isn’t fond of Manchester City or Liverpool, the Englishman has been shortly affiliated with some other Premier League clubs after his departure from Old Trafford.
In particular, he seems to have a soft spot for Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. In fact, towards the end of his career, Beckham even trained with the Gunners in 2013. This was just before his impending move to PSG at the end of January that year. Beckham was moving into the final phase of his career and the Gunners allowed him to train with them to keep sharp.
Talking about how this happened, then-Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said: “He called me. He has asked to come here and to work on his fitness. He has not done anything for a long, long time. [It’s] purely for fitness. There’s no speculation about signing or anything.”
Some Manchester United fans were probably perturbed that he chose to train with the Gunners than his former side. This could’ve been because of his tense relations with Sir Alex Ferguson, with the two involved in a huge row before his departure to Real Madrid. Beckham also actually trained with Arsenal in 2008 during his time at LA Galaxy, when the MLS break was ongoing.
On top of that, Beckham’s second-eldest son Romeo Beckham is also an Arsenal fan. The Englishman clearly gave his children the free will to support whichever club he wanted. Romeo has developed into a hardcore Arsenal supporter after a meeting with Arsene Wenger, and loves to gives his father stick whenever his side wins a game over Manchester United.
All these instances got some Gooners to think that Beckham is a discreet supporter of Arsenal. They feel that he’s always loved them, which is why he trained with them and allowed Romeo to support the club. However, Tottenham Hotspur fans have been aggrieved by this. They have brought out the facts to prove that if Beckham was to root for a London club, it’d be them.
The Englishman was born in London and did his schooling in the city too. He actually started his football journey at an amateur local youth team called Ridgeway Rovers, where his father was a coach. After that, the Englishman transitioned to joining Tottenham Hotspur’s youth academy as a 12-year-old.
A reason behind that might’ve been because a number of Beckham’s family members were actually Spurs fans. That included his grandfather, who was an avid Tottenham supporter. He spent a few years at Spurs’ youth academy (and a few years on loan at Brimsdown Rovers) before joining Manchester United’s youth academy in 1991. His parents were huge Manchester United supporters and did everything possible to get him at the club. The rest, as they say, is history.
Despite that, Beckham has never forgotten his roots in Tottenham. In 2010, he also trained with Spurs’ squad during an MLS break to keep himself fit. Not only that, but the ashes of Beckham’s grandfather were scattered onto the White Hart Lane pitch.
Was in Tottenhams youth system
Family members who are huge Spurs fans and had his Granddads ashes scattered over the Tottenham pitch
Came back to Spurs to train during the MLS break
Literally came out saying hed "wish he'd played for Tottenham"
David posted a poignant tribute to the Spurs stadium in 2017, writing on Instagram: “Being a East End boy and Manchester United fan I always loved scoring against the London clubs , but there was always a slight guilt every time I scored against Spurs at white hart lane for one reason only my grandad was always watching and he had been a season ticket holder for 40 years but he loved every moment …
“I have so many great memories from white hart lane from the age of 11 training there and then being sat in Terry Venables office being offered a contract ( obviously turning it down ) to captaining United in that famous comeback but the most memorable has to be the day of my grandads funeral when we celebrated his life in the stadium with family and friends… White hart lane will always be a big part of our family .. Thank you for the memories @spursofficial.”
Fast-forward to 2019 and the then-Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino also revealed that in a personal conversation, Beckham told him that he wished to have played for Tottenham in his career. He might have teased Arsenal fans by training with them a few times, but it’s clear that Beckham’s allegiance sticks with Spurs when it comes to London clubs.
