History Commons^™

David Beckham Sold Off To Madrid, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

The sale of David Beckham by Manchester United to Real Madrid must be the highest profile transnational sports transfer since Wayne Gretzky was shipped out of Edmonton to Los Angeles. There were moves in the Canadian Parliament to designate the Great One as a national treasure to prevent that sale from completion and Canadians went into a period of national mourning. Neither Tony Blair nor his Minister of Sport suggested such an action at Westminster but still there was considerable reaction among British football fanatics.