London, Apr 27: David Beckham goes back to his London roots to launch new boots and remember best moments with the old ones. David Beckham drove back to memory lane in the East London suburb of Walthamstow, where he grew up collecting glasses at greeyhound races, playing football and going to school before joing Manchester United to become one of the most famous footballers in the world. From here, Beckham signed schoolboy forms with United on his 14th birthday, before joining the club as a 16-year-old trainee in 1991. By 1995/96 he was a regular in a team that just couldn't stop winning. On Monday (April 26), the Real Madrid midfielder left the disappointment of the 2-1 weekend defeat to Barcelona to go back to the shop where he got his first boots.

Beckham arrived at Sedgwick Sports shop to launch the first boot to carry his recently unveiled personal logo.


Manufacturers claim he designed the new boots himself, choosing a 'colourway' of silver metallic and red to make them appear as distinctive as possible on the pitch.


"For a number of years, I've always wanted my own boots like Bryan Robson had his own boots, things like that. I always wanted my own boots, so to have that now and to have kids going to the shops to have boots with my logo on, you know it is really special to me," he said.


The midfielder also brought a collection of special boots that he keeps from the most siginificants moments of his career, like the ones when he won the Champions League in 1999 after an amazing late 2-1 comeback against Bayern Munique.


"These (boots) will always have a special place in my heart because I've been at Manchester United for so many years and to win the European Cup final in these actual boots was special," he said.


Also in Beckham's special collection are the boots he used to send England into the 2002 World Cup finals after scoring with a late freekick to secure a 2-2 against Greece.


"Oh yeah, these are obviously the Greece boots which everyone knows about it. You know, for me this was one of the best moments of my career and one of the most important goals in my career. I think, you know, to score a goal at that point in the match it meant a lot to me, it meant a hell of a lot to the fans watching out there and yes, they are very special boots."


A total of 14 pairs are on display at the shop which will remain the only place in the world where the new boots will be available until its official global retail launch on May 1, the day before Beckham's 29th birthday.


For the wrong and right reasons, arch-rivals Argentina also have a special place in Beckham's boot memories. After the sending-off in the 1998 World Cup, came the penalty winner against their arch-rivals in the 2002 World Cup.


"These boots are so special to me on that night because the first time I play Argentina in a World Cup, you know, everybody knows about it didn't go that well but you know. To play them for years on and to score the winning goal which was a penalty against them, meant a lot to me. I think that was one of the most emotional games I played and specially after we won the game, so these one of the most special boots I've got."


The new boot and the new personalised logo unveilled recently in Germany are the latest ventures of a footballer who remains one of the world's biggest celebrities.


Bureau Report