Beckham joins United legends for London film premiere

David Beckham. AP FILE PHOTO

LONDON – Six Manchester United icons including David Beckham on Sunday attended the London premiere of a film celebrating the youth team that would go on to transform the English football club into a global phenomenon.

Speaking on the red carpet in front of hordes of fans at London’s Leicester Square, Beckham predicted high emotions when he and his family watched “The Class of 92”, a documentary which goes behind the scenes of United’s legendary 1992 youth team.

The film focusses on the six players who went on to star for the first team during a period of unprecedented success for the northern England powerhouse, under the guidance of recently retired manager Alex Ferguson.

The other five players – brothers Gary and Phil Neville, midfielder Nicky Butt, current first-teamer Ryan Giggs and recently retired Paul Scholes – were also in London for the premiere.

“There will be a few tears in there from my mum I’m sure,” said Beckham, who was flanked by his wife Victoria and three sons, Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz.

“There were good times, there were bad times, there were troubled times where we all stuck together,” explained the 38-year-old.

“But that is part of the movie, part of the history of the six of us. That is why it makes this such a great story.”

Pundits wrote off United when the youngsters were thrown into the first team at the start of the 1995 season.

Instead, the often underperforming club went on a trophy binge and became one of the world’s most recognised sporting brands.

Despite his silver-screen appearance, Beckham wrote off ideas of an acting career.

“I’m not very good at acting, so maybe it wouldn’t be a very good idea to go into that kind of industry,” he said.

“But I enjoyed doing this. It’s obviously something that I know, something that is part of our teenage years (and) very special.”