David Beckham has finally offered his own version of events that took place in the early 2000s, when his Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was rumoured to have kicked a boot at his head.
The falling out between Sir Alex Ferguson – the most successful manager in English football history – and one of the biggest stars of his Manchester United team at the time was all over the tabloids at the time.
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And now, in the new Netflix documentary about Beckham and his family, the former footballer opened up on the incident, among others from his career.
For this tale, we take you back to 2003, and an FA Cup fifth round tie against Arsenal, which United lost 2-0.
It all started – according to Becks - after Fergie criticised him for not tracking a man, leading United to concede a goal.
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Fergie was then ‘fuming’ after Beckham swore at him, leading the Scotsman to launch a boot across the room at him, which left him with a cut above his eye that – obviously – the media quickly picked up on.
The former Real Madrid and England midfielder said: “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.”
After claiming that Fergie was ‘effing and blinding’ at him, Beckham continued: “I went back at the boss and said ‘no’ and then I swore.
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“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.”
Once the boot was yeeted across the room at him, Becks lost the plot.
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“I went at him - someone had to hold me back,” he said.
In another interview, Beckham’s United teammate gave his own version of events.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer explained: “When you lose you take your boots off and wait for the gaffer to talk and he starts effing and blinding at David.
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“Look at the video, David says.
“[Sir Alex says] I don't need a f***ing video, I've got my eyes.
“I could then just see my boot flying.”
Later in the documentary, Beckham discussed how sad he was to eventually leave United the following season.
In the end, he went to Real Madrid and won La Liga, as well as a host of other trophies in his career, so it’s fair to say he landed on his feet.
However, leaving United was clearly a difficult decision.
Becks recounted how he asked to see Ferguson, but was told he didn’t want to see him.
“I said, ‘I need to speak to the boss, I need to know this is really what he wants’ and I pleaded to not go.
“I couldn’t get in contact with the boss.
“Did I ever want to leave Man United? No, never.
“It was my home. My relationship with the boss was always special. We had our moments, but I still loved him.”
Topics: Sport, David Beckham, Celebrity, Football, Manchester United, Netflix, TV and Film
Tom Wood