Bye bye Becks

SO it’s a fond farewell to arguably the biggest football icon in the world David Beckham.

Well, no. It’s the end of his footballing career and we all knew it would come one day. But I’ll bet my new designer shirt that it’s only the start for Brand Beckham Mr B ain’t going anywhere.

Dave and Vic, as their friends probably don’t call them, are rich beyond their wildest dreams. But Brand Beckham is more to them than just pure big bucks. It’s about the brand.

And they could teach marketing and PR experts a thing or two about slick campaigns.

Football isn’t a big sport in this town. In fact, if you asked most people in Lala to explain the offside rule, you’d be there for some time and they’d still get it wrong.

But they love Becks and they love that’s he’s made no secret of the fact he loves the sunny LA lifestyle and the peace he gets, as does Victoria. We haven’t seen the last of them here, that’s for sure.

You might remember I was the one who broke the story that they were moving to LA and Becks was going to play for LA Galaxy. I just got lucky and overheard the chat in a restaurant! People scoffed at the time, but the rest is history. Becks has it written into his contract with LA Galaxy that he can buy an American football team from Major League Soccer. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t do it at some point. It’d be a great excuse to bring them all back out here.

Becks has always been a pleasure to speak to. But my favourite story about him concerns Tom Cruise.

When Becks first arrived in town, he went running in LA’s famous Runyon Canyon with Tom.

Tom is no slouch in the fitness stakes and thought he was doing pretty well. In fact, he had just edged in front of Becks and was thinking ‘I’m the man’! Until he turned round and saw Becks was running backwards . . . it was a mere stroll to him!

Don’t worry girls hopefully he won’t be shy about getting his top off and showing that six-pack to the world. I’m sure he regards it as a public service.

I admire the way the Beckhams have brought up their kids. Obviously they have a fantastically privileged lifestyle, but when he moved here, Becks made a point of taking his boys to hospitals and giving toys to the children there.

It’s the “Diana factor”. She took Wills and Harry to homeless shelters so they’d understand another side of life. Becks was trying to do the same thing. He was so proud that they just “got it” and actually asked to go back with more toys.

He may have had his critics. He may have made mistakes. But, trust me, I’ve met him a good few times and he’s still a decent bloke you’d like to have a pint with.