Editing David Beckham (section)

==Early life, family and education==
David Robert Joseph Beckham<ref name="Hugman2003-04">{{cite book |editor-first=Barry J. |editor-last=Hugman |title=The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2003/2004 |year=2003 |publisher=Queen Anne Press |location=Harpenden |isbn= 978-1-85291-651-0 |page=42 }}</ref> was born on 2 May 1975 at [[Whipps Cross University Hospital]] in [[Leytonstone]], London, England.<ref>{{Cite news |title= BECKHAM – Working-class boy to Man U |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-jul-09-sp-beckham9-story.html |work= [[Los Angeles Times]] |date=9 July 2007 |access-date=9 September 2008 |first=Chuck |last=Culpepper |archive-date=7 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207033804/http://articles.latimes.com/2007/jul/09/sports/sp-beckham9 |url-status=live }}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite book| first= Julie | last= Burchill | year=2012| title= On Beckham| publisher= Random House| isbn= | page= | quote= }}</ref> He was given the middle name Robert in honour of [[Bobby Charlton]], his father's favourite footballer.<ref>{{Citation |title=David Beckham's 29 Questions With Gary Neville {{!}} Overlap Xtra | date=9 June 2022 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpTSe8CFrk0 |access-date=9 June 2022 |archive-date= 9 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220609135956/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpTSe8CFrk0 |url-status=live }}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Shukert |first=Rachel |title=David Beckham: I Consider Myself To Be Jewish |website= [[Tablet Magazine]] |date=17 April 2012 |url=http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/205883/david-beckham-i-consider-myself-to-be-jewish |access-date=7 March 2018 |archive-date=7 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180307224604/http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/205883/david-beckham-i-consider-myself-to-be-jewish |url-status=live }}</ref> Beckham has referred to himself as "[[Half-Jewish|half Jewish]]"<ref>{{cite news |first=Dominic |last=Fifield |title=Beckham launches into the Galaxy |url=http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2126173,00.html |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=14 July 2007 |access-date=14 July 2007 |archive-date=27 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080127093151/http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2126173,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and wrote in his autobiography "I've probably had more contact with Judaism than with any other religion".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Elgot |first1=Jessica |title= Jewish funeral for Beckham's grandfather |url=https://www.thejc.com/news/uk/jewish-funeral-for-beckham-s-grandfather-1.12959 |website=The Jewish Chronicle |date=10 December 2009 |access-date=6 November 2021 |archive-date=6 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211106160133/https://www.thejc.com/news/uk/jewish-funeral-for-beckham-s-grandfather-1.12959 |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book |first1=David |last1=Beckham |first2=Tom |last2=Watt |title=Beckham: Both Feet on the Ground |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=92wDxf13hoEC&q=Both+Feet+on+the+Ground+church+beckham&pg=PA11 |isbn=978-0-06-057094-1 |date=21 October 2004 |publisher=Harper Collins |access-date=10 November 2020 |archive-date=8 November 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231108152947/https://books.google.com/books?id=92wDxf13hoEC&q=Both+Feet+on+the+Ground+church+beckham&pg=PA11#v=snippet&q=Both%20Feet%20on%20the%20Ground%20church%20beckham&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

His parents were fanatical [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]] supporters who frequently travelled {{Convert|200|mi|km}} to [[Old Trafford]] from London to attend the team's home matches.<ref>{{cite book |title=20 Soccer Superstars |date=2010 |publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group |page=8}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wmagazine.com/celebrities/2007/08/beckhams_steven_klein?currentPage=2|title=American Idols|work=[[W magazine]]|date=1 August 2007|access-date=24 February 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090214155704/http://www.wmagazine.com/celebrities/2007/08/beckhams_steven_klein?currentPage=2|archive-date=14 February 2009}}</ref> Beckham was a late developer and not selected to represent the England Schoolboys' team primarily on account of his small size.<ref>{{Cite web|date=21 April 2021|title=Why David Beckham Didn't Play for England Schoolboys......| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON3HvHjubrY|access-date=27 April 2021|website=YouTube}}{{cbignore}} Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211130/ON3HvHjubrY Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20210429121359/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON3HvHjubrY Wayback Machine]</ref> He attended one of Bobby Charlton's Soccer Schools in [[Manchester]] and won the chance to take part in a training session with [[FC Barcelona|Barcelona]], as part of a talent competition.<ref>{{cite book |last1 =Robinson |first1=Tom |title=David Beckham: Soccer's Superstar |date=2008 |publisher=Enslow Publishing, LLC |page=20}}</ref> 

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 United F.C.|West Ham United]] in 1986. Young Beckham had trials with his local club [[Leyton Orient F.C.|Leyton Orient]], [[Norwich City F.C.|Norwich City]] and attended [[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|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 F.C.|Brimsdown Rovers]]' youth team, he was named Under-15 Player of the Year in 1990.<ref>{{cite web|title= Becks' Brimsdown boost| website= thefa.com | date=24 September 2004|url=http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFAVase/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2004/09/BecksBrimsdownBoost.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20041011163715/http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFAVase/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2004/09/BecksBrimsdownBoost.htm |url-status= dead|archive-date=11 October 2004|publisher= The Football Association|access-date= 7 July 2007}}</ref> Beckham attended [[Chingford Foundation School|Chingford County High School]] in Nevin Drive, [[Chingford]].<ref>{{cite web| website= artscouncil.org.uk |publisher= Arts Council England| url= http://press.artscouncil.org.uk/content/detail.aspx?releaseid=363&newsareaid=2 | archiveurl= http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120202222937/http://press.artscouncil.org.uk/content/detail.aspx?releaseid=363&newsareaid=2 | title= School puts the arts at the heart of learning| date= 21 October 2008| archivedate= 2 February 2012| accessdate= }}</ref> 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.<ref name="YTS">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/dna/place-lancashire/plain/A1138600|title=David Beckham – Rise of a Footballer | website= bbc.co.uk |access-date=12 September 2014|archive-date=21 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140721164247/http://news.bbc.co.uk/dna/place-lancashire/plain/A1138600|url-status=dead}}</ref>