Beckham Magazine - The Sun Interview Pg 1

You are at Beckham Magazine : Interviews / The Sun Interview Pg 1

BECKHAM: 'IT GOT SO BAD I WAS READY TO QUIT FOOTBALL'
Friday, Aug 29, 2003

-DAVID, I want to start at the moment when things were at their worst at Manchester United.

There’s a line in the book where you say: “Rather than having your life broken apart by the game you loved, you had a choice: You could decide to retire from football altogether.”

You mention that you even went as far as discussing it with Victoria. I think to anyone who has watched your sheer love of the game and your skill at it, to think that you would even consider that is incredible.
-It was a time where it was tough for me and it did get to the point where I wasn’t considering playing anywhere else and I was just going through a really difficult time.

I actually did discuss retiring with Victoria. There were all sorts of things going on in my life at this time — Romeo had just been born, my parents were divorcing, there was the relationship with the manager and the kidnap threats.

-How exactly did you mention quitting to her?
-I just came out with it and she was quite amazed really.

-Can you remember where you were at the time? -I think it was in the house in Manchester. I think I had just come home from training.

I’m sure people will read it and think, “surely not, he’s just saying that to get a reaction,” but it was a serious thought of mine. I never told anyone else apart from Victoria and my agent Tony Stephens. I really seriously considered it.

-That’s Man U, England, the lot. You just walk away from the whole game?
-If I’d walked away from Man U, I couldn’t have continued playing for England.

If it was possible then I would have done, but at that point I wasn’t enjoying my football. I wasn’t enjoying the whole thing.

It made me sit back and think about it. Looking back at it now I’m so glad that I didn’t make that decision. But it was one I did consider.

-If you were going to do it, what would you have done? Can you imagine a life without football?
-Really, I didn’t even think what I was going to do. I didn’t have a clue what I was going to do. I just knew I wasn’t happy doing what I was doing at that time.

I wasn’t happy with the way things were. I wasn’t happy going into work every day and I think that contributed to me thinking about that decision.

-It goes to show the pressure you were under at this time.
-Yeah. And no one outside of friends and family sees that. I don’t think anyone knew how I was feeling apart from Victoria and a few other people.

-It must have been a big thing to say, telling her that you were thinking of giving it all up – what did she say?
-She was shocked. She knows how much my football means to me. She always has done and she has always supported me through everything, through all the ups and downs. It shocked her because she realised how serious I was about it. She realised there was a real problem there and that I really wasn’t happy.

I didn’t want it to start affecting my family life and my children. So that’s why I sat down and really thought about it myself.

Of course I discussed it with Victoria, but the real decision came down to me. I’m sure you’ll get other people reading this and saying, “Oh, you’re just saying that because you’ve got an autobiography out,” but it was a serious thing.