{"id":290877,"date":"2023-10-03T10:25:57","date_gmt":"2023-10-03T10:25:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?p=290877"},"modified":"2023-10-03T10:25:57","modified_gmt":"2023-10-03T10:25:57","slug":"david-beckham-hails-father-figure-sir-alex-ferguson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/david-beckham-hails-father-figure-sir-alex-ferguson\/","title":{"rendered":"David Beckham hails &apos;father figure&apos; Sir Alex Ferguson"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>David Beckham hails &#8216;father figure&#8217; Sir Alex Ferguson as &#8216;one of the most important people in his life&#8217; despite their infamous Manchester United fallout<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>David Beckham has credited Sir Alex Ferguson for guiding him at Man United<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The former United star credits the Scotsman for nurturing his raw talent<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The pair revisit their relationship in the upcoming Netflix series BECKHAM<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>David Beckham has praised Sir Alex Ferguson for being a guiding &#8216;father figure&#8217; after helping nurture his skill during formative years at Manchester United.<\/p>\n<p>The former England captain burst onto the global stage with United as a key member in the club&#8217;s fables Class of 92&#8242; and has since forged a career as a global icon both on and off the pitch.<\/p>\n<p>Beckham arrived in Manchester as a trainee in 1991 and immediately set out on a path that would end with him becoming one of Ferguson&#8217;s greatest-ever talents.<\/p>\n<p>United&#8217;s legendary manager harnessed Beckham&#8217;s potential, taking him from a hopeful academy prospect to one of the best attackers in world football at the time, a feat that the 48-year-old largely pins on the Scotsman.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking as part of the new Beckham documentary series airing on Netflix on October 4, he explains how crucial his relationship with the former Red Devils manager was.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/02\/18\/76080781-12585313-image-a-16_1696266596623.jpg\" height=\"357\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Sir Alex Ferguson (left) and David Beckham (right) pose together as he joins Manchester United<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/02\/18\/76081033-12585313-image-a-19_1696266900432.jpg\" height=\"358\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Beckham hailed Ferguson as being a &#8216;father figure&#8217; to him in an upcoming Netflix documentary<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;There&#8217;s me and the boss, one of the first times I met him&#8217; says Beckham as he shows a picture of the pair smiling together following his move to Old Trafford at the age of 16.<\/p>\n<p>He continues: &#8216;Alex Ferguson was someone that I looked up to as a father figure.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;One of the most important people in my life from the age of 12, 13 when I first met him.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Ferguson further explains how he felt a responsibility to nurture Beckham&#8217;s obvious talent after club scouts first became aware of him when the England star was on a trip to Barcelona.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;He came to us as a small, skinny little boy you know? But when you see potential it sticks out at you.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;It&#8217;s your job then to bring that to fruition, to make them a man,&#8217; he added.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/02\/18\/76080445-12585313-image-a-17_1696266627718.jpg\" height=\"466\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Beckham drives into Man United&#8217;s Carrington training ground with a plaster over his left eye caused by a boot that was kicked by Ferguson hitting him in the face<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/02\/18\/76081031-12585313-image-a-20_1696266906210.jpg\" height=\"422\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Beckham (right) and Ferguson (left) have since resolved their relationship<\/p>\n<p>The duo celebrated huge success together in Manchester as Beckham won six Premier League titles, two FA Cups and the Champions League with the club he supported as a child.<\/p>\n<p>Individual recognition also followed as the now-Inter Miami owner was recognised as the best player in Europe by UEFA in 1999, before his career at United began to struggle.<\/p>\n<p>Ferguson later revealed how their relationship deteriorated to the extent that the United manager felt his once child prodigy was more focused on becoming a celebrity than football.<\/p>\n<p>A dressing room clash saw Ferguson kick a boot in anger that ended up hitting Beckham in the eye and a subsequent move to Real Madrid followed in 2003. The pair have since resolved their relationship.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/08\/02\/636x90_facebook_ad_sport.png\" width=\"636\" height=\"90\"><br \/>\nSource: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12585313\/David-Beckham-hails-father-figure-Sir-Alex-Ferguson-Man-United.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>David Beckham hails &#8216;father figure&#8217; Sir Alex Ferguson as &#8216;one of the most important people in his life&#8217; despite their infamous Manchester United fallout David <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/david-beckham-hails-father-figure-sir-alex-ferguson\/\" title=\"David Beckham hails &amp;apos;father figure&amp;apos; Sir Alex Ferguson\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290876,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-290877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>David Beckham hails &amp;apos;father figure&amp;apos; 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