Becks retired 10 years ago & his stats are still iconic
David Beckham retired from playing exactly 10 years ago today, and his final Manchester United appearance was 20 years ago this month.
The iconic Treble winner hung up his boots while playing for loan club Paris Saint-Germain and famously left the pitch in floods of tears.
Records kept by TransferMarkt.co.uk indicate Beckham finished his career with 718 appearances, 127 goals and 214 assists. That's 341 goal involvements, averaging roughly one every two games, emphasising his incredible creativity.
Ten years before his retirement, almost to the day, Becks scored the last of his 85 United goals during our 2-1 win over Everton at Goodison Park, before lifting his sixth Premier League title.
David's career remains iconic: he enjoyed successes at Old Trafford, with Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, AC Milan and PSG, as well as England.
He's a genuine superstar of sport, but he is best known for an era of excellence as a Red and, indeed, in English football. Here, you can remind yourself of Beckham’s brilliance via seven stats researched by Opta…
Everton 1 United 2
11 May 2003: David Beckham scored in his final United appearance, before we lifted the Premier League trophy...
1: FREE-KICK KING
David still holds the Premier League record for most goals scored from direct free-kicks (18). His tally could finally be matched, however, with Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse currently only one adrift. Check out the top five...
18 = David Beckham
17 = James Ward-Prowse
12 = Thierry Henry
12 = Cristiano Ronaldo
12 = Gianfranco Zola
2: TOP OF THE ASSISTS TABLE
Between his first and final Premier League appearances in April 1995 and May 2003, Becks assisted more goals than any other player (80).
As you can see here, he's above some legendary names...
80 = David Beckham
74 = Dennis Bergkamp
68 = Ryan Giggs
47 = Teddy Sheringham
45 = Nolberto Solano
Only two players have scored more goals from outside the box than Beckham’s 34 strikes. They include the competition's all-time leading scorer Alan Shearer (35) and Chelsea legend Frank Lampard (41). Take a look at the countdown...
41 = Frank Lampard
35 = Alan Shearer
34 = David Beckham
33 = Steven Gerrard
33 = Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
All The Goals: David Beckham
All The Goals | Becks scored 85 goals during his legendary United career: you can watch them all here...
4: A LEAGUE OF HIS OWN
In total, 126 different players have scored at least 50 Premier League goals and Beckham is the only one to net more than 50 per cent of his tally from outside the box (55 per cent). Current Reds midfielder Christian Eriksen has the second-best percentage, with 23 of his 53 goals coming from outside the box (43 per cent).
5: GOAL INVOLVEMENTS
Becks registered the most goals and assists (142) of any non-forward in his Premier League era. Impressively, when you include forwards, he was fourth behind Alan Shearer (179), Dennis Bergkamp (147) and United team-mate Dwight Yorke (144).
Why Beckham's in the Hall Of Fame
Frank Lampard and Phil Neville are among those to pay tribute to our former no.7, in this video from the Premier League…
6: RECORD BREAKER
David assisted 10 or more Premier League goals in four consecutive seasons between 1997/98 and 2000/01, becoming the first player to do so.
It is a feat that has been emulated just once, by Christian Eriksen, while he was at Spurs between 2015/16 and 2018/19.
7: CONSISTENTLY TOP
Three of the top-four assist totals registered by a United player across all competitions were set by Beckham during the Premier League era. Take a look...
22 = Ryan Giggs in 2003/04
20 = David Beckham in 1997/98
19 = David Beckham in 1998/99
19 = David Beckham in 1999/00
All data recorded and shared by Opta.