BECKHAM DEBUT-sorry day late!

 On 4th March 1995.....

David Beckham was on the books of Manchester United from 1992 to 2003 but it wasn't United who he played his first League match for. Before he had played in the Premier League for Manchester United 19-year-old Beckham was loaned out to Preston North End to gain first team experience and on Saturday March 4th 1995 made his League debut in his first outing for them. 

That debut came against Doncaster Rovers in a Division 3 - now League 2 - fixture at Deepdale - he came on as a sub and scored direct from a corner kick in the 2-2 draw. He played in all 5 matches North End played in March scoring one more goal in that unbeaten run which also saw him pick up a £50 first team bonus in each fixture. On his return to Old Trafford and United's next match, he made his Premier League debut - at home against Leeds United - and that was that!! I think his bonuses were generally more than £50 a match by then!

David Robert Joseph Beckham was born on 2 May 1975 at Whipps Cross Hospital, Leytonstine, London. England. He is the son of Sandra Georgina (née West), a hairdresser, and David Edward Alan "Ted" Beckham, a kitchen fitter; the couple married in 1969 in the London Borough of Hackney. He was given the middle name Robert in honour of Bobby Charlton, his father's favourite footballer. He has an older sister, Lynne Georgina, and a younger sister, Joanne Louise.

Beckham's maternal grandfather's maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Lazarus Llewellyn, was Jewish. Beckham has referred to himself as "hald Jewish" and wrote in his autobiography "I've probably had more contact with Judaism than with any other religion". In his book Both Feet on the Ground, Beckham states that growing up he attended church every week with his parents, because that was the only way he could play football for their team.

His parents were fanatical Manchester United supporters who frequently travelled 200 miles (320 km) to Old Trafford, from London to attend the team's home matches. David inherited his parents' love of Manchester United, and his main sporting passion was football. In a 2007 interview, Beckham said that, "At school whenever the teachers asked, 'What do you want to do when you're older?' I'd say, 'I want to be a footballer.' And they'd say, 'No, what do you really want to do, for a job?' But that was the only thing I ever wanted to do." Beckham was a late developer and not selected to represent the England Schoolboys' team primarily on account of his small size. He attended one of Bobby Charlton's Soccer Schools in Manchester and won the chance to take part in a training session with Barcelona, as part of a talent competition.

He played for a local youth team called Ridgeway Rovers, which was coached by his father, Stuart Underwood, and Steve Kirby. Beckham was a Manchester United mascot for a match against West Ham Utd in 1986. Young Beckham had trials with his local club Leyton Orient, Norwich City and attended Tottenham Hotspur's school of excellence, though never represented the club in a match. During a two-year period in which Beckham played for Brimsdown Rovers' youth team, he was named Under-15 Player of the Year in 1990. Beckham attended Chingford County High School in Nevin Drive, Chingford. He also attended Bradenton Preparatory Academy, but signed schoolboy forms at Manchester United on his 14th birthday, and subsequently signed a Youth Training Scheme contract on 8 July 1991. His number of "official" matches played 719  and goals 129.

Beckham's England national football team-themed Paddington Bear statue – "Golden Paws" – in London, auctioned to raise funds for the NSPCC.

"We may be a small country, but we're a great one, too. The country of Shakespeare, Churchill, the Beatles, Sean Connery, Harry Potter. David Beckham's right foot. David Beckham's left foot, come to that."

—Hugh Grant's character in the 2003 film Love Actually.
In 2013, he donated all his £3.4 million salary from Paris Saint-Germain to two children's charities in France.