Is David Beckham's Soccer Career Over?

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David Beckham intends to devote himself full-time to his new soccer schools once his playing career is over. As well as the ability to hit an inch-perfect cross or stick a free kick into the top corner, he can gather the youngsters together and tell them the cautionary tale about Real Madrid. It is, as Steve McManaman so wisely remarked, a lesson in “the Disneyfication” of a great sporting institution. Beckham will be able to speak from bitter personal experience. Real ground to a halt in the Spanish championship race when the galácticos capitulated shamefully away to Getafe on Sunday to trail Barcelona by 11 points. Out of the Spanish Cup and the European Cup, Real will have stumbled through two seasons without a trophy for only the second time in 20 years. Like some holidaymakers, Beckham has found Spain very different from the brochure. He has said that he would like to remain at the Bernabéu, particularly with two seasons left on his contract, but an offer from Chelsea or Arsenal would be very welcome. He was full of praise for José Mourinho yesterday, “we haven’t seen anything like him before”, he said, but the Chelsea manager intends to spend his money on Steven Gerrard while Arsène Wenger is highly unlikely to blow the Arsenal budget on someone who will be 30 in May. Michael Owen, at 25, is a more sensible and realistic target. It leaves Beckham the footballer stranded but, as ever, the brand is not standing still. Opening this summer near the Millennium Dome, the David Beckham Academy has been in the England captain’s thoughts for a long time. One of the highlights of his youth was attending the Bobby Charlton Soccer School. Some may see a marketing venture, but Beckham has been consistent in declaring his desire to work with kids. In an attempt to prove his good intentions, Beckham announced that the academy would not be charging at all this summer and that there would be 10,000 free places every year thereafter, on top of a further 5,000 children paying £250 for a weekly course. “My personal investment runs into millions,” he said. “It is a lot of money, but I have to prove to people that I believe in it. I have earned a lot out of football and had a great career and I want to put something back. I am lucky I can do this. Maybe there will be profit eventually, but it is not about that. “When you get to a certain age, you wonder what you are going to do after playing. How you are going to replace the dressing-room? I want to get the same buzz and I think I will get that running these soccer schools. I can see Gary and Phil Neville and Roy Keane in management, but it has never appealed to me. “If I can find another Michael Owen, Rio Ferdinand or Wayne Rooney, that’s great, but it is not just about elite players. It is about boys and girls enjoying themselves. There will always be new idols, but I am hoping that this will carry on for many, many years. I want to continue playing as long as I can, until my legs are too old. Then I will devote all my time to this.” Beckham said that he would be seeking total control from “what is going on the walls to the handles on the doors”. Backed by Anschutz Entertainment Group, which is turning the Dome into a sports arena, he will also open a school in Los Angeles and there may be others in the Far East. He has recruited Eric Harrison, the respected Manchester United youth coach, who used to tell off a teenaged Beckham for hitting “Hollywood passes” rather than playing the simple ball. “Obviously it will be hard to be here a lot while I am still playing, but it is important if your name is on it to be very closely involved,” Beckham said. The academy will be a shrine to the England captain, adorned with Beckham memorabilia, but he cannot be sure of adding any more medals to his collection. Real have been through three managers this season and Vanderlei Luxemburgo’s scathing attack on the attitude of his players at the weekend suggested more turbulence over the coming weeks. Beckham’s season has effectively finished with more than two months left and, although he tried to talk defiantly, his excitement at the academy project turned to gloom when conversation revolved around his professional life in the Spanish capital. “When I was in Manchester there was a year when we didn’t win anything and that was tough enough,” he said. “Madrid are expected to win things. “The players don’t take any notice of the galácticos thing, but others do and obviously there is going to be big criticism if you are not winning trophies.” Beckham finished by saying that he had no intention of dropping down the football ladder before retiring. “I want to finish at the highest level,” he said, but Real have slipped some way off the summit in the past couple of years.