Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed his version of events regarding his and David Beckham’s high-profile falling out during the tail-end of Beckham’s Manchester United career, stating that he believes his marriage to Victoria Beckham was one of the reasons behind his “downfall”.
Writing in his autobiography, Ferguson said: “David thought he was bigger than Sir Alex Ferguson. There is no doubt in my mind.”
He continued: “The big problem for me is that he married Victoria. He went from Real Madrid to LA Galaxy. I told him exactly what I thought of that and I think he missed top level football.”
Writing about “bootgate”, the infamous incident when Ferguson kicked a football boot at Beckham’s head in the locker room leaving the midfielder with a scar, the former manager said: “He was around 12 feet from me. Between us on the floor lay a row of new boots. David swore. I moved towards him and as I approached I kicked a boot and hit him right above the eye.
“Of course he rose to have a go at me and the players stopped him. ‘Sit down,’ I said. ‘You let your team down.'”
However, Ferguson and Beckham have patched things up since the manager allowed him to transfer to Madrid in 2003, saying: “He was a marvellous boy and has become an icon. He’s worked to get to the point where he’s become a great player. We let him go to Real Madrid because we thought it was the right time.”
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