He was supposed to be the man who ignited a desire in Americans to watch soccer. Instead, fans of the game are now booing him as he takes the field. That’s what happened last night as a crowd of 23,000 at the Meadowlands let Beckham know they didn’t appreciate his apparent lack of commitment to soccer in the U.S. When he played there two years ago, there were 66,000 fans. Last year there were about 50k.
“Obviously the first year was impressive,” Beckham said. “We’re in a recession so, you know, maybe that’s part of it.”
I suppose that’s one culprit. That or the fact that Americans aren’t soccer fans and there’s nothing Beckham can do to change it. Hmmm, which do you think it is?
on Jul 17th, 2009 at 1:50 PM
Or maybe that lots of us are sick of Beck and his publicity mongering.
on Jul 17th, 2009 at 2:41 PM
I watch a lot of European football (i.e., soccer) and it’s so unfortunate that Beckham was the one ‘annointed’ to save U.S. soccer. He’s probably the least athletic soccer superstar in the world.
The only great plays he ever seems to make are from set pieces or dead ball plays where he triggers the resumption of play by kicking the ball into play.
And I have to admit some of the passes he makes in those situations are terrific, but the real joy and thrill of soccer are the plays made by great athletes running up and down the field make spectacular passes, shots, saves and tackles. Beckman rarely if ever makes one of those type plays.
on Jul 17th, 2009 at 4:27 PM
“Obviously the first year was impressive,” Beckham said. “We’re in a recession so, you know, maybe that’s part of it.”
LOL. Sports fan will always find the cash if they are fired up about a game, a team or an athlete.
on Jul 17th, 2009 at 7:43 PM
Beckham is a playboy footballer wanna be. Boo.
on Jul 18th, 2009 at 1:23 AM
So much hate for David Beckham.
The fact is that the Beckham experiment in the United States was a HUGE SUCCESS. The MLS received more publicity than they could ever dream of, and for a while even had attendance skyrocketing for games involving the LA Galaxy.
From a merchandise perspective, it was also a success given how many LA Galaxy jerseys have been sold with Beckham’s name on it.
Beckham may not be the world’s greatest soccer player but he’s certainly a strong player. As has been mentioned a couple of posts above mine, his set pieces and dead ball situations were almost flawless. And while he wasn’t flashy – he still got the job done. I still maintain that the English National Team is better with him on the field than off. He can help create chances and has a way of running down the wing and finding an open man in the box for the cross.
He’s past his prime but he can still contribute. Thanks for everything Becks.
on Jul 18th, 2009 at 7:10 AM
Beckham was one of the best English players there was. American’s should be honored he went there to play for them – even if it was his retirement. But, in England it is embarrasing for an english player when he goes to play ‘football’ in america, its a bit like moving to florida when you’re 70. Past it.
on Jul 20th, 2009 at 11:04 AM
And it was the Beckham signing in Los Angeles that caused a real surge in season ticket sales for Toronto FC – making them one of the great success stories in North American soccer. Season ticket sales had been steady for the expansion team and over two to three months of season ticket sales before their first season TFC had sold about 7500 -8000 season tickets. In the three days following Beckham’s signing in Los Angeles TFC sold over 6,000 season ticket packages and cut-off season ticket sales at 14,000.
Now three years later TFC are the toughest ticket in town with every game selling out, season tickets now capped at 16,000 for the 20,000 seat venue and a waiting list of over 14,000 for season tickets. Now doubt Beckham’s signing played a significant role in that success. And because of the success of TFC other teams are using l;essons learned in Toronto to develop successful expansion franchises in places like Seattle and come 2011 in Vancouver. Without the Beckham signing and how the interest that generated pushed the TFC over the top in terms of fan interest – I wonder how much of what followed would have happened.
on Jul 20th, 2009 at 2:18 PM
I disagree with you, Pat. I think TFC’s story is great and all, but Seattle’s success has had to do with putting together a unique product (season ticket owners being matched with similar groups of fans within the stadium, encouraged to march in to the stadium with the Sounders marching band, and given the right to elect a new GM every four years). It’s because of Seattle’s success in reviving soccer in the Pacific Northwest, an area that strongly supported NASL and USL teams, that Vancouver and Portland have won expansion teams. It has little to do with Beckham.
Back to the original article- Beckham deserved any boos he got. The way he tried to leave the Galaxy was terrible- and I think every word Landon Donovan has said about Beckham is true. He couldn’t control every aspect of the club, and as a result, he tuned out. That being said, Beckham’s still an upgrade in the Galaxy midfield. Considering the tear Donovan has been on lately, it wouldn’t surprise me to see the Galaxy in the playoffs for the first time since 2005.
on Jul 21st, 2009 at 7:35 PM
Hey Greg:
I know the owners of Seattle made a number of visits to Toronto in the year prior to their opening – so I’m sure they took some lessons from here and tweaked them to work best in that market (as no two markets are identical). Portland – yes that is because of Seattle’s success no doubt. But until Montreal pulled out everybody assumed the two 2011 teams were going to be Montreal and Vancouver – because of Toronto.
And yes I agree that even though I credit a chunk of Toronto’s success at first to the signing of Beckham – the continued success and the success of any team that has followed has nothing or at least very little to do with Beckham. Although having just typed that I do recall Beckham’s first game in Canada (because he was injured for the game here in Toronto) was a friendly with the Galaxy playing the Whitecaps before well over 50,000 at BC Place Stadium a couple of years ago – and that turn I’m sure helped convince Vancouver backers to pay the big expansion fee that Montreal was not willing to pay. So who knows – hard to say what if any impact Beckham may have had.
The irony of me crediting Beckham with some of TFC’s success is that he has yet to play a game here with the Galaxy. His only appearance at BMO Field was in the MLS all-star game. Go figure!