David Beckham’s father’s concerned 9-word reply when he found out Victoria was pregnant
David and Victoria Beckham welcomed baby Brooklyn in 1999, but the happy news came just hours before the Manchester United star made one of the biggest mistakes of his footballing career.
June 30, 1998, was one of the worst days of David Beckham’s life. His “moment of madness” during the England v Argentina World Cup match saw him kick Diego Simeone, earning him a red card and the title of the nation’s villan.
The country’s reaction and the abuse he received in the following months sent him into a state of depression, but while his personal and professional life was at rock bottom there was also something pretty amazing happening. The night before the fateful game, his then fiancee Victoria Adams called to tell him she was pregnant with their first child. Recalling the conversation in their new Netflix show Beckham, the Spice Girl said: “I told David the night before the game.
“He was so, so happy, we both were and there was never any doubt in my mind that I should tell him. I mean, it was what we wanted and he could not have been happier.” So in the days after being shown the red card to deafening boos from the crowd, when David was being comforted by his parents, he also got to tell them they were going to be grandparents. But the rollercoaster of emotions meant his dad’s reaction probably wasn’t what he was expecting. While he was of course delighted by the news, he also understood it was going to be a difficult time. On the Netflix show, his dad Ted revealed he said: “Oh blimey, you couldn’t have picked a worse time.”