'I saw David Beckham play aged 11 after phone call - he was in a different class'

I can still clearly recall the phone call almost 39 years later. “He’s from Chingford, his name is David Beckham.” said the voice on the other end of the line.

It was December 1986 and in the football world, not that many people would have heard of the player who has become arguably the most famous ever from these shores. Except, in my corner of the globe, as sports editor of the Waltham Forest Guardian in North East London, we certainly had.

As a claim to fame (and please shout if anyone else is out there!), I was the first person ever in the media to write the words David Beckham. Happy 50th birthday. I remember you at 11.

Beckham's name would appear in the pages of our weekly newspaper because of his exploits playing for local club Ridgeway Rovers who were based not far away in Chingford. Yes, the same Ridgeway Rovers who another future England captain, Harry Kane, would play for in years to come.

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That Monday morning in December the call was to invite me to spend the weekend in Manchester for the final of the TSB Bobby Charlton Soccer Skills competition. The TSB representative told me that the bank was taking local paper journalists from some of the regional winners of their competition to Old Trafford to watch the national final. Our local winner was “David Beckham”.

And so to Manchester I go. With the Beckham family, where the finale to the event would be on the Old Trafford pitch on the Sunday afternoon before a First Division match (Premier League, what was that?) between Manchester United and Tottenham. The day began at United’s training ground, with ball juggling, target shooting and short passing, with points for each discipline. Every player gained bonus points for each time they controlled the ball with part of their body and not their feet.

Beckham was in a different class as I stood watching with his parents, Sandra and Ted. Amazingly, he kept the ball in the air for a minute, the maximum time, and the bonuses kept rolling in.

Then it was to Old Trafford where Beckham’s skills came to the fore again, including directly hitting a cone. He ended with 1,110 points – 100 more than he had achieved in the week’s course which had seen him qualify for the final.

When it was all over, we assembled in one of the lounges at Old Trafford and Sir Bobby Charlton said of Beckham: “He really is a special lad. When the youngsters were warming up before the start of the competition he stood out among them all. He has great vision, he has great skill, his dedication reminds me of myself and he can go a long way.”

United kept a close eye on Beckham after this and on May 2 1989, the day of his 14th birthday, Alex Ferguson signed him on a schoolboy contract. “Dynamic David joins United” read our back page headline that week in the Waltham Forest Guardian.

No-one could have imagined what a journey he was just starting out on.

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