David Beckham awarded knighthood

David Beckham has been awarded a knighthood in King Charles' Birthday Honours list.

The former England captain was awarded on OBE in 2003 and has now received further recognition with the full list of recipients also including the likes of Luke Humphries and Luke Littler.

Beckham won 115 caps for his country as well as enjoying an illustrious club career that saw him play top-level football in five different countries.

The 50-year-old was a member of the famed 'Class of 92', a group of young players that came through the Manchester United academy to enjoy success in the first team during the 1990s.

He won six Premier League trophies and a famous treble in 1999 before becoming a Galactico at Real Madrid in the early 2000s.

Los Blancos paid the Red Devils £25m for his services and in doing so made him just the third Englishman to play for the club - following in the footsteps of Laurie Cunningham and Steve McManaman.

Following his spell in the Spanish capital, Beckham would play for LA Galaxy, AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain before retiring in 2013.

It won't just be his footballing career that Beckham receives his knighthood for but he will also be recognised for his outstanding contribution to British society.

The Inter Miami owner played a key role in securing the London 2012 Olympics bid and has been a Unicef ambassador since 2005.

More recently Beckham announced his support for The King's Foundation in 2024 - helping King Charles' education programme that aims to give younger people a better understanding of nature.

Alongside his ownership of Inter Miami he set up the Inter Miami CF Foundation which is a non-profit organisation that uses football to support underserved communities.

How many footballers have received knighthoods?

There are currently 16 ex-footballers who have received knighthoods with Beckham having become the 16th.

The list includes 1966 World Cup heroes Geoff Hurst and Bobby Charlton whilst Gareth Southgate was the most recent footballing recipient before Beckham.

Ian Botham might be a surprise name to many.

The 69-year-old was knighted for his services to Cricket but also played for Yeovil and Scunthorpe during a remarkable sporting career.

• Sir Hubert Ashton

• Lord Ian Botham

• Sir Trevor Brooking

• Sir Matt Busby

• Sir Bobby Charlton

• Sir Charles Clegg

• Sir Kenny Dalglish

• Sir Alex Ferguson

• Sir Tom Finney

• Sir Geoff Hurst

• Sir Stanley Matthews

• Sir Alf Ramsey

• Sir Bobby Robson

• Sir Gareth Southgate

• Sir Walter Winterbottom

• Sir David Beckham

William Dobbie

• England Men's Football Team
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