Legend got blast after unveiling his mohawk
DAVID BECKHAM
DAVID BECKHAM was ordered by Sir Alex Ferguson to shave off his mohawk hairstyle in the tunnel at Wembley minutes before Manchester United played Chelsea.
Fergie was never a fan of Beckham’s coiffure variants and, when the former England captain went for a mohawk, he hid it under a beanie hat because he was too scared to let his United manager see it.
Finally, ‘Goldenballs’ unveiled his new barnet in the Wembley dressing room and Ferguson hit the roof.
Beckham, below, said: “I have said many times before that the boss wasn’t just the greatest and best manager I ever played under – he was also a father figure to me from the moment I arrived at Manchester United at the age of 11 until the day I left. The fear of the hairdryer was one of the reasons we all played well – although at times I thought he went a bit too far, which caused a few issues.
“Before the 2000 Charity Shield at Wembley against Chelsea I had a change of hairstyle. I went for a mohawk, which I knew wouldn’t be to his taste.
“I was too scared to let him see it, so the day before the game I went into training with a beanie hat on, trained in it, walked back into the hotel with the beanie on, kept it on during dinner and the next morning’s breakfast.
“Of course, the moment was arriving in the dressing room when I would have to reveal my new hairstyle.
“Within seconds of the unveiling, he yelled ‘Go and shave it off!’ So off I went to try to find a pair of clippers from somewhere and, just before we’re ready to go out for the warm-up,
I was in the tunnel shaving my mohawk off.”
Three years later, Beckham needed stitches in a cut above his eye when he was hit by a flying boot Fergie had angrily kicked across the dressing room after United’s FA Cup defeat by Arsenal. But Beckham insists it was a “freak accident”.
He said: “I’d made a couple of mistakes. He came in and a few harsh words were exchanged.
“He started to walk over to me and he kicked out at a pile of clothes on the floor. Out came this boot and then I quickly realised how accurate his kick had been as it struck me on the head, but there weren’t any hard feelings. It was a freak accident.”