Arise, Sir David Beckham
'England trail by two goals to one. Beckham could raise the roof here with a goal,' goes the commentary, as David Beckham lines up a free-kick against Greece, shortly before whipping it into the top corner. 'I don't believe it! David Beckham scores the goal to take England all the way to the World Cup finals! Give that man a knighthood!'
The year was 2001, and the ultimate honour seemed close for England's biggest football player – and perhaps the most famous living Briton, full stop.
Yet as the longtime Beckham watcher Zoe Williams describes, it has been a long wait. As she tells Helen Pidd, Beckham was a pioneer for many reasons in the 1990s and early 2000s: a gay icon in a masculine world; an openly loving dad; and, of course, an extremely successful athlete.
But his career has been beset by scandal, too – from reports of affairs, and allegations over his tax arrangements, to disappointments over his association with Qatar.
Still, on Friday it was finally announced that Beckham was to receive his knighthood – the fruits of a campaign for the honour that started more than a decade ago.
So why now? And what does it say about the UK's honours system – and its class system – that it took so long?
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