David Beckham Has Still Kept the Ticket on Which Victoria Wrote Her Phone Number 23 Years Ago

David and Victoria Beckham have one of the oldest famous marriages, and judging from their new Netflix documentary, it seems to be a happy one. The 48-year-old British soccer icon and his 49-year-old Spice Girl-turned-fashion-designer wife have been married for almost two decades. They met in 1997 and were married in July of 1999. They raised a family of four: daughter Harper, 12, and boys Brooklyn (24), Romeo (21), and Cruz (18).

Back in 2020, David, when appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, recounted meeting his future wife, then known as Victoria Adams, while he was a teenage player for Manchester United. Both Victoria, Posh Spice of the Spice Girls, and David, a European soccer star on the verge of international fame, were well-known celebrities at the time.

According to Sky News, he spoke of the day in 1997 when he saw Victoria and Mel C, aka Sporty Spice, at the game. He said, "We knew of them, obviously, because they were pretty big at the time. And I was just establishing myself in the Manchester United team at the time. But we all had our favorite Spice Girl." According to him, Victoria returned to Manchester the next week and that was when he first spoke to her. He added, "She'd had a couple of drinks so I decided why not, I'll try and get her number. We talked for about an hour in the players' lounge. She actually got the train up that day so she wrote her number down on her train ticket, which I still have."

In 2016, Victoria confessed to the British Vogue about the moment she fell in love with the star player. She told the outlet, "Love at first sight does exist. It will happen to you in the Manchester United players’ lounge – although you will get a little drunk, so exact details are hazy."

She further went on to describe in the letter, "While the other football players stand at the bar drinking with their mates, you will see David standing aside with his family. (He’s not even in the first team at this stage – you are the famous one.) And he has such a cute smile. You, too, are close to your family, and you will think how similar he feels to you. He’s going to ask for your number. (He still has the London-to-Manchester plane ticket on which you wrote it.)"

Rebecca Loos, David and Victoria's personal assistant, made headlines in 2004 when she claimed publicly that she had an affair with David during his time in Spain with Real Madrid. However, the couple has always rejected the claims. Plus when it comes to David, he always defended his relationship and stood up for his marriage.

In 2017, he said on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, "We're a strong family unit, we've got strong parents. We were brought up with the right values. Of course, you make mistakes over the years, and we all know marriage is difficult at times. It's about working through it. We know each other better than anybody. People have talked about, 'Do we stay together because it's a brand?' Of course not. We stay together because we love each other because we have four amazing children."