PENGUIN READERS
Teacher’s notes LEVEL 1
David Beckham
Bernard Smith
Summary
Pages 1–7
David Beckham is a very famous English footballer. David
Beckham was born in London in 1975 into a football-
loving family. The young David was not very good at
schoolwork and spent all his spare time playing football.
He was encouraged by his father, who was a Manchester
United fan, and joined Manchester United when he was
16. He played his first game for them a year later, and
went on to help them win many trophies, including the
European Champions Cup. He played his first game
for England when he was 21. He was sent off against
Argentina in a World Cup match, which England lost.
When he was 25, he became the captain of England’s
national football team.
Pages 8–14
Getting sent off the pitch in 1998 made Beckham
unpopular, but he scored England’s only goal when they
beat Argentina in the 2002 World Cup match. One year
later Manchester United sold him to Real Madrid, the
best team in the world, for twenty-five million pounds.
He is married to Victoria (‘Posh Spice’ of the famous pop
group, the Spice Girls) and they have become one of the
most famous and glamorous couples in the world. David
is always in the newspapers and magazines because of
his football, his family, his house, his cars and his hair.
Beckham loves children, and he has opened his own
football schools in Greenwich and Los Angeles. He is just
an ordinary family man at heart, and a wonderful model
for young people all over the world.
Background and themes
Fame and stardom: David Beckham is not just a football
star. He has become an international icon, of great interest
c Pearson Education Limited 2008
Teacher Support Programme
to the media and to people who don’t even like football.
He is, of course, a brilliant footballer. He is also good-
looking, rich and married to a pop star. Some people think
that he is boring. He never gets into trouble, never causes
scandal and obviously adores his wife and children. So
why are people so interested in him? Probably because his
story offers hope to ordinary young people everywhere.
Youth policy in football: Beckham was signed on by
Manchester United for their youth training programme
when he was young. Now he himself has opened his own
football academy.
Football and money: Beckham agreed to a $250 million
five-year deal with the LA Galaxy in Los Angeles. He is
one of the highest-earning athletes of all time.
Discussion activities
Pages 1–7
Before reading
1 Discuss: Talk about David Beckham. Show students
the picture on the book cover and ask Who is he?
Ask students if they know anything about David
Beckham. Have them look at the pictures on pages 2,
3, 5 and 7 to help them talk about him.
After reading
2 Role play: Students work in groups of three and act
out this conversation.
Student A: You are 11-year-old David. You want to
enter a football competition for 15 year olds.
Student B: You are his father. You want David to go,
but you think he is too young and small.
Student C: You are his teacher. You think he should
spend less time on football and more on schoolwork.
Pages 8–14
Before reading
3 Discuss: Talk about the headings.
On the board, write down the headings – ‘Posh and
Becks’, The World Cup 2002: Bekkamu! Bekkamu!,
Goodbye to the Reds and A Family Man. Ask students
what they think they are going to read about. If
possible, bring in some related magazine pictures to
help them.
After reading
4 Discuss: Have students work in small groups to
discuss the following questions: Why did David go
to Los Angeles, do you think? Will he be happy there?
5 Discuss: Do footballers today earn too much money?
Vocabulary activities
For the Word List and vocabulary activities, go to
www.penguinreaders.com.
David Beckham - Teacher’s notes  of