David Beckham was so smitten with wife Victoria when they first started dating that he would drive for hours to see her and be on the phone to her almost constantly.
As the former football player, 48, and fashion designer Victoria, 49, approach their 25th wedding anniversary next year, the couple’s friends and family have spoken out about the early days of their relationship.
They met after a Manchester United game in 1997 when David played for the team, and while Victoria was at the height of her fame as a Spice Girl.
David had already told his pals he wanted to marry Victoria, known then as Posh Spice, after seeing her in a music video on television.
And he made it his mission to win her over after she wrote her number on a plane ticket she’d used to get to the football game at which they met.
Love story: David Beckham, 48, was so smitten with wife Victoria, 49, when they first started dating that he would drive for hours to see her and be on the phone to her almost constantly (David pictured last week)
Looking back: The couple met after a Manchester United game in 1997 when David played for the team, and while Victoria was at the height of her fame as a Spice Girl (David and Victoria pictured in 2000)
According to the Mirror, David said: ‘There was something there just straight away. It was just like OK, this is it and it’s going to move fast.’
David’s former teammate Gary Neville said of David’s obsession: ‘He was on the phone to Victoria every second. He would stay on the phone till one in the morning.
‘It was like an addict. He’d drive four hours to spend 20 minutes with her.’
Paul Scholes added: ‘We knew David was p***ing the manager [Alex Ferguson] off. I think he was probably going down to London at times when he possibly shouldn’t have been. And the manager wouldn’t have that.’
Victoria and David are set to lift the lid on their first attraction to one another in a new Netflix documentary which is due for release this month.
In a teaser for the show, showing off her relaxed side while sitting on a sofa, Victoria said: ‘The fact I went to the games really was to – some might say I stalked him, I would say see him.’
Victoria admitted that when she saw David after a match by the bar in the Manchester United players’ lounge, he caught her eye because he was with his parents and clearly a family man.
She said: ‘When I saw him in the footballers’ lounge, all the other footballers were at the bar, and he was standing and talking to his parents, and I’m very close to my family, and I loved that side to him.’
Beckham TEASER: Victoria admitted she ‘stalked’ footballer David when they first met and revealed why he caught her eye in new Netflix doc – a new teaser was released on Monday
Giving his side of the story, David simply said of their first meeting: ‘I just fancied her.’
While Victoria gushed: ‘I just fancied him, it was as simple as that.’
It proved to be love at first sight for the couple, who went on to tie the knot at a castle outside Dublin just two years later in 1999.
They now share four children – sons Brooklyn, 24, Romeo, 21, Cruz, 18, and a daughter Harper, 12 – and are as loved up as ever after 24 years of marriage.
However, their romance wasn’t always plain-sailing as David’s mother Sandra has told how she feared her son would ‘lose everything’ when he started dating Victoria.
In the upcoming Beckham documentary, Sandra confessed she was worried David would get side-tracked from his career at Manchester United when Spice Girl Victoria came on the scene.
She said: ‘We’d were worried he would lose everything he worked for because football had always come first and then all of a sudden it wasn’t.’
But, David and Victoria instead became a brand where they gained lucrative contracts with clothing designers, health and fitness specialists, fashion magazines, and perfume and cosmetics manufacturers.
Happy couple: David says of meeting Victoria: ‘I just fancied her’
Blast from the past: The show goes into Beckham’s relationship with his wife Victoria, who he married in 1999, as they trace their family life through his career
Despite now being a power couple, at the start of her relationship with David, Victoria said she was told by her manager at the time to ‘keep it under wraps’.
She said: ‘We would meet in car parks and that’s not as seedy as it sounds.’
Adding to her comment, David joked: ‘Classy!’
Victoria also opened up at being at the centre of the ‘circus’ – with shocking footage showing one of their children crying as fans pound on their car as they drive past.
In the clip David – who drove as Victoria sat in the back – said: ‘It’s all right Buster. They can’t get in the car.’
Looking back on the period, Victoria added: ‘It’s entertaining when the circus comes to town, right? Unless you’re in it.’
Elsewhere, David appears to have a conflicting opinion to his former Man United manager Alex Ferguson, as he says of how his fame catapulted due to the interest into his relationship with Victoria: ‘It definitely didn’t change me.’
Alex, 81, then said: ‘Well he changed. There’s no doubt about that.’
The new Netflix documentary which ‘tells the inside’ story about David Beckham’s career is set to be released on October 4.
An emotional David Beckham says he didn’t ‘sleep’ or ‘eat’ after he was blamed for England’s World Cup 1998 exit as he retells the story in the new Netflix documentary.
The football star, now 48, was sent off against Argentina after kicking the back of Diego Simeone’s leg, lashing out at the Argentina captain after he had shoved him to the ground.
Family: The couple now share four children – sons Brooklyn, 24, Romeo, 21, Cruz, 18, and a daughter Harper, 12 – and are as loved up as ever after 24 years of marriage
Doubts: However, their romance wasn’t always plain-sailing as David’s mother Sandra has told how she feared her son would ‘lose everything’ when he started dating Victoria
Secret romance: At the start of her relationship with David, Victoria says she was told by her manager at the time to ‘keep it under wraps’
Sensational clips from the programme shows his wife Victoria, legendry Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, his parents and his former club and England team-mates Gary Neville and Rio Ferdinand.
And the documentary appears to go into unprecedented depth as it covers the stresses and pressures that dogged Beckham and his family through his professional career.
Speaking about the World Cup exit in 1998, he says: ‘I don’t think I’ve ever talked about it just because I can’t.
‘I wasn’t eating. I wasn’t sleeping. It took a toll on me that I never even knew myself.’
The documentary promises the show the former England international’s rise from ‘humble working-class beginnings’ up to his glamorous days at Manchester United, Real Madrid and beyond.
Further clips show heartwarming home video of their children and wedding day, alongside resurfaced interviews with the star in his prime.
From the trailer alone, it seems a large portion will be focused on his relationships both off and on the pitch.
After England’s round of 16 stage defeat, the former Manchester United and Real Madrid winger then had to watch on as England went on to lose the match on penalties.
The footballer was constantly booed and jeered by fans of opposition clubs for the majority of the following 1998-99 season, with a burning effigy of him and death threats among the worst of the backlash to his red card.
Beckham also touches on the famous dressing room incident between himself and Sir Alex Ferguson, where the United coach supposedly kicked a boot at the England star.
He appears to admit that he ‘went at’ his manager after the incident as he discusses the furore with an interviewer.
Back in the day: The football star, now 48, was sent off against Argentina after kicking the back of Diego Simeone’s leg, lashing out at the Argentina captain after he had shoved him to the ground
A look back: The documentary promises the show the former England international’s rise from ‘humble working-class beginnings’ up to his glamorous days at Manchester United , Real Madrid and beyond
More to say: Beckham also touches on the infamous dressing room incident between himself and Sir Alex Ferguson, where the United coach supposedly kicked a boot at the England star
Netflix promises that ‘the series takes you on that rollercoaster and builds a surprising, personal and definitive story of one of the most recognisable and scrutinised athletes of all time.’
This includes Beckham’s relationship with his wife Victoria – as they trace their family life through his career.
Since retiring from the sport, ‘Becks’ has taken on a number of ambitions, such as his ownership role with MLS side Inter Miami.
Earlier this summer, the club secured one of the most startling transfers in football history as Beckham managed to convince Lionel Messi to join the club.
