David Beckham celebrates his 50th birthday today, with the former and star stating earlier this year that the milestone "doesn't bother me one bit". has enjoyed a legendary career, which saw him win 19 major trophies.

He is also the only Englishman to have won league titles in four different countries, having won the with United, LaLiga with , the MLS Cup with LA Galaxy and Ligue 1 with Paris Saint-Germain.

Beckham joined United as a trainee in 1991 and was part of the famed Class of '92 alongside the likes of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and the Neville brothers. The group broke into the first-team together and maintain a close relationship, with Beckham now part of a consortium with his former team-mates that own League Two club Salford City.

Beckham made his first-team debut at the age of 17 in a League Cup game against , coming off the bench to replace Andrei Kanchelskis in a 1-1 draw. After establishing himself as a regular following a loan spell at Preston, Beckham won his first league title with United in 1996.

And the following season he truly began his ascent to superstardom after scoring one of the most iconic goals of all-time, with a 21-year-old Beckham lobbing Wimbledon goalkeeper Neil Sullivan from the halfway line.

"I couldn't have known it then, but that moment was the start of it all: the attention, the press coverage, the fame," Beckham later reflected in his autobiography. "When my foot struck that ball, it kicked open the door to the rest of my life."

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United won the league again that season and Beckham was voted PFA Young Player of the Year for his performances. In 1997, Beckham began dating Victoria Adams from the Spice Girls after he invited her to a United game.

They quickly became a power couple and were dubbed 'Posh and Becks' by the media, with Beckham leaning into his newfound celebrity status. The couple got engaged in January 1998 and Beckham was the poster boy for Glenn Hoddle's England side as they headed to France for that year's World Cup.

However, things began to sour after Hoddle dropped him for England's first two games and suggested his relationship was having a negative effect on his football. "Fine, he's in love, but I think he lost his way a bit at the end of last season and his form suffered as a result," Hoddle wrote in his World Cup diary.

Beckham did start the final group game against and scored a trademark free-kick to ensure England advanced to the last 16 where they faced Argentina. However, a now infamous clash with Diego Simeone saw Beckham sent off and England crashed out of the tournament on penalties.

"Let's just say the referee fell into the trap," Simeone later said of the incident. "You could say that my falling transformed a yellow card into a red card. In fact, the most appropriate punishment was a yellow. Obviously, I was being clever."

Beckham became Public Enemy No. 1 as a result and he admitted in his documentary that . "It brought a lot of attention that I would never wish on anyone, let alone my parents," he said.

"I can't forgive myself for that. That's the tough part what happened in a way. I was the one that made the mistake. It is only now I beat myself up about it."

However, Beckham was able to bounce back and he won an historic treble with United the following year as they lifted the league title, and the . He also tied the knot with Victoria that year following the birth of their first son Brooklyn.

Beckham became England captain after Euro 2000 and became a national hero again the following year after he scored a free-kick against which ensured the Three Lions qualified for the World Cup.

However, at United his relationship with Ferguson was beginning to fracture, with the Red Devils boss believing his celebrity lifestyle was having a negative impact on his football. He was never a problem until he got married," Ferguson said in 2007.

"He used to go into work with the academy coaches at night time, he was a fantastic young lad. Getting married into that entertainment scene was a difficult thing – from that moment his life was never going to be the same. He is such a big celebrity, football is only a small part. The big part is his persona."

Things came to a head in 2003 when an irate Ferguson following United's 2-0 FA Cup defeat to . Beckham was left needing stitches on a cut above his eye and, although he later insisted the incident was "blown up out of all proportion", his time at Old Trafford came to an end that summer as he became a Galactico.

Beckham spent four years in Madrid, but only won LaLiga once and he made a surprise move to MLS side LA Galaxy in 2007 after relinquishing the England captaincy following the 2006 World Cup.

His move stateside raised a lot of eyebrows at the time, but it ultimately paid dividends as he became an A-list superstar in America and had a provision in his contract that allowed him to buy an MLS expansion team after he retired.

Beckham's Inter Miami franchise made their MLS debut in 2020 and has since signed superstar players such as , Luis Suarez and Sergio Busquets. During his time at LA Galaxy, Beckham won two MLS Cups and also spent time on loan at AC Milan.

He left America in 2012 and spent half a season at , where he retired in 2013 after winning Ligue 1. Following his retirement, there were calls for Beckham to be given a knighthood but he only has an OBE which he received in 2003.

Back in 2017, a which allegedly showed Beckham voicing his anger at being overlooked in 2013. He is said to have slammed the honours committee and criticised their decision to award opera singer Katherine Jenkins and OBE.

"Katherine Jenkins OBE for what? Singing at the rugby and going to see the troops," he allegedly wrote. Beckham was also involved in some controversy after signing up as a , despite the country's dreadful human rights record.

In response to the criticism, Beckham told the : "I've always been a believer that football is such a powerful tool. I knew that once the World Cup started, not that it would go away, but it was all then about how people were treated, how people weren't excluded, what an experience the World Cup would be.

"I spent a month out there, and not one person came up to me and said, 'Oh my God, I've been treated like this, oh my God, I wasn't allowed into this place…' I was around the LGBTQ community, I spoke to people on the ground. So I was happy with my decision."

Beckham remains one of the biggest celebrities in the and told ahead of his 50th birthday: "[It] Doesn't bother me one bit. People are asking me about it gently, like it should be a big issue.

"It's not something that I'm worried about, as long as I'm fit and healthy and my family are healthy, that's all I care about.

"I'm really happy. I've got the business and an amazing family. My kids are all working hard, and they've all got passions, and that's what's important to me."

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