03 October 2023 , 06:00
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It has been over 20 years since one of the most infamous dressing room moments of all-time when Sir Alex Ferguson kicked a boot at David Beckham.
The incident occurred following Manchester United's 2-0 FA Cup defeat against Arsenal in February 2003. Edu and Sylvain Wiltord scored for the Gunners either side of half-time to leave United and Ferguson furious.
In fact, Ferguson took out his frustration on Beckham in the changing room after the midfielder "made a couple of mistakes" during the contest at Old Trafford. The Scot confronted Beckham and kicked a pile of clothes on the floor, before a boot hit Beckham on the head, causing him to have stitches on a cut above his eye.
Speaking on the incident, Beckham said in 2021 : "That was blown up out of all proportion. I'd made a couple of mistakes during the game and he came into the dressing room and a few harsh words were exchanged.
"He started to walk over to me and he kicked out at a pile of clothes on the floor. Out came this boot and then I quickly realised how accurate his kick had been as it struck me on the head, but there weren’t any hard feelings.
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"It was a complete freak accident. As far as we were concerned. it was forgotten straight away within the club, but the incident made the papers which meant that people started to speculate about our relationship. But as far as the boss and I were concerned it was over, done and dusted."
David Beckham's infamous cut after being hit by a boot (Daily Mirror)Ahead of the release of the Netflix documentary BECKHAM, the 48-year-old looked back on the good and not so enjoyable moments during his life and career. The ex-England international was one of the most talented footballers of his generation and retired in 2003 after over 750 career appearances.
However, despite winning several major honours and scoring more than 100 goals Beckham did have some high-profile moments of controversy in his career, with none higher than his red card against Argentina at the 1998 World Cup.
"I don't think I have ever talked about it just because I can't," Beckham said in Episode 2 of the documentary. "I find it hard to talk through what I went through because it was so extreme. The whole country hated me. Hated me."
"Wherever I went, I got abused every single day," Beckham added. "To walk down the street and to see people look at you in a certain way, spit at you, abuse you, come up to your face and say some of the things that they said. That's difficult. I wasn't eating, I wasn't sleeping. I was a mess. I didn't know what to do."
Victoria Beckham, meanwhile, added: "He was absolutely broken. He was in pieces. He was really depressed, absolutely clinically depressed. Expressing her anger towards those who targeted them. It pained me so much, I still want to kill these people."