admin Sir David Beckham has joined the select band of English footballers to be knighted after appearing in King Charles III’s Birthday Honours list on 14 June 2025. The accolade crowns a career that produced 115 England caps, six Premier League titles and United’s 1999 treble, plus championships in Spain, the United States and France, alongside two decades of UNICEF advocacy. Earlier nominations reportedly stalled during routine tax checks, so the long-awaited honour sees him finally join football knights such as Sir Bobby Charlton and Sir Kenny Dalglish.
From east London to global icon
Beckham, 50, often recalls practising free-kicks on Leytonstone parks. He turned that dedication into a defining stoppage-time set-piece against Greece that carried England to the 2002 World Cup, then into spells at Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, Milan and Paris Saint-Germain that made him a global sporting brand. Manchester United hailed an “indelible legend” who has championed English football around the world, while ESPN noted that his knighthood places him among a select few former captains to receive the title.
Legacy beyond the pitch
Retirement in 2013 did little to dim his influence. As co-owner of Inter Miami he persuaded Lionel Messi to cross the Atlantic, driving record attendances and broadcast deals. UNICEF points out that, since becoming a Goodwill Ambassador in 2005, he has fronted Soccer Aid, visited projects in Nepal and Jordan, and channelled his “7 Fund” into combating bullying, child marriage and lost schooling for girls, raising more than £70 million. The King’s Foundation, which appointed him an ambassador last year, says his easy rapport with young people is invaluable.
Brand analysts expect the knighthood to boost Beckham’s commercial pull ahead of the 2026 World Cup, while wife Victoria automatically becomes “Lady Beckham”. This year’s honours list also rewarded darts prodigy Luke Littler, highlighting the monarch’s appetite for inspirational sporting stories. Even so, friends insist the investiture, due at Windsor Castle later this year, will remain intimate, centred on the family whose patriotism first fired his ambitions.
Beckham’s response was characteristically restrained: he framed the title as recognition for work that already gives him fulfilment and said leading England will always be the greatest privilege of his life
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