David Beckham became embroiled in a furious bust-up in the Manchester United dressing room during his final season at Old Trafford where he had to be held back by team-mates
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Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson gives instructions to David Beckham during the FA Barclaycard Premiership match between Fulham and Manchester United
David Beckham and Sir Alex Ferguson clashed towards the end of the Englishman's time at Manchester United
(Image: Getty Images)
A furious David Beckham once had to be held back by Manchester United team-mates after lunging at Sir Alex Ferguson.
Beckham has described Sir Alex as a “father figure” in the past, which comes as no surprise given that the Scot nurtured him from a young talent and gave him his footballing breakthrough as part of the famed Class of 92’. Beckham's success on the pitch in the 1990s, blossoming modelling career, and relationship with pop star Victoria Adams eventually saw him become a global icon who transcended football.
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Ferguson took issue with all of the England captain's off-pitch distractions to the point that their relationship became fractured in his latter years with United. And, in 2003, that culminated in a bitter clash between the pair after a 2-0 defeat to Arsenal in the fifth round of the FA Cup, which irreversibly damaged their relationship.
The legendary manager believed Beckham had stopped working hard on the pitch and kicked a football boot at his head after the loss, leading to a media frenzy as pictures emerged showing Beckham with a gash above his left eye. Beckham would leave for Spanish giants Real Madrid shortly after, but not before he lashed out in anger at Ferguson.
Speaking about the bust-up in his autobiography, Ferguson explained: "In his final season with us, we were aware that David's work rate was dropping and we had heard rumours of a flirtation between Real Madrid and David's camp.
"The main issue was that his application level had dropped from its traditionally stratospheric level. He was around 12 feet from me. Between us on the floor lay a row of boots. David swore. I moved towards him, and as I approached I kicked a boot.
"It hit him right above the eye. Of course he rose to have a go at me and the players stopped him. 'Sit down', I said. 'You've let your team down. You can argue as much as you like'.
"The next day the story was in the press. In public an Alice band highlighted the damage inflicted by the boot. It was in those days that I told the board David had to go.
"My message would have been familiar to board members who knew me. The minute a Manchester United player thought he was bigger than the manager, he had to go.
"I used to say, 'the moment the manager loses his authority, you don't have a club. The players will be running it, and then you're in trouble'."
Meanwhile, Beckham himself also shed light on the incident that ended his United career in his Netflix documentary, saying: "We walked in the changing room and the boss is fuming. I can see it by his face. And when you see the boss’s face like this, you don’t want to be anywhere near him. It is a face that no one can do, trust me.
“[He was f'ing and blinding] and I went back at the boss and said 'no' and then I swore. I said the f-word. And then I saw him change, and I was like, 's***, I really shouldn’t have said that'. I think I said the f-word too many times."
On the photos of a bandaged Beckham that appeared in the press, Ferguson said: "I think that was stage-managed. It wasn’t even worth a stitch."
Manchester United's David Beckham required two stitches after Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson kicked a football boot which accidentally struck him above the eye
David Beckham was said to have required two stitches after Sir Alex Ferguson kicked a football boot which accidentally struck him above the eye
Despite his move to Real Madrid and becoming one of the Galacticos enhancing his global image, Beckham has repeatedly said that leaving United was never his preferred decision. He hoped to patch things up with the club he had supported and joined as an 11-year-old, but Ferguson accepted a bid from Barcelona without informing him and declined to speak to the player until he was out of the door.
Beckham recalled: "I turned on the TV, saw the news, stopped my holiday and then called Peter Kenyon and said, ‘is this true?’ and he said ‘yes’ and I said, ‘can I speak to the manager?’ He said ‘no’, I said ‘I’d like to speak to the manager if I’m leaving.’ He said, ‘he doesn’t want to talk to you, he’s on holiday and that’s it’.
"I said, ‘I need to know if this is real or not'. He said, ‘it’s real, we’ve accepted an offer’, which I then replied to him by saying, ‘if I am leaving United I want to decide where I go next, I don’t want to go to Barcelona, there’s only one club I want to go to and that’s Madrid'."
He went on to add: "My management made the call and a day and a half later I was a Madrid player. It obviously hurt. I couldn’t watch United for three years on the TV.”
After his £25million transfer to the Spanish capital, Beckham notched 20 goals and 52 assists in 159 appearances for Los Blancos. He won La Liga in his last season there and jet off to the United States to play for LA Galaxy, before seeing out his career with AC Milan and PSG.
Meanwhile, Ferguson is known for making similarly ruthless decisions regarding other United icons, with the likes of Jaap Stam and Roy Keane also being forced out by the Scotsman after their respective disagreements.
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