Editing David Beckham (section)

====2000–2001: Troubled relationship with Ferguson====
By the early-2000s, the relationship between Ferguson and Beckham had begun to deteriorate, possibly as a result of Beckham's fame and commitments away from football. In 2000, Beckham was given permission to miss training to look after his son Brooklyn, who had [[gastroenteritis]], but Ferguson was furious when [[Victoria Beckham]] was photographed at a London Fashion Week event on the same night, claiming that Beckham would have been able to train if Victoria had looked after Brooklyn that day. He responded by fining Beckham the maximum amount that was permitted (two weeks' wages – then £50,000) and dropping him for a crucial match against United's rivals Leeds United. He later criticised Beckham for this in his autobiography, claiming he had not been "fair to his teammates"<ref>''The Boss'' 469.</ref> Beckham had a good season for his club, though, and helped United to win the Premier League by a record margin.

{{blockquote|
He was never a problem until he got married. He used to go into work with the academy coaches at night time, he was a fantastic young lad. Getting married into that entertainment scene was a difficult thing – from that moment, his life was never going to be the same. He is such a big celebrity, football is only a small part. – Alex Ferguson speaking about Beckham's marriage in 2007.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/ferguson-will-never-talk-to-the-bbc-again-401487.html|title=Ferguson will never talk to the BBC again|last=Harris|first=Nick|date=6 September 2007|work=The Independent|location=UK|access-date=30 April 2009|archive-date=28 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120528191835/http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/ferguson-will-never-talk-to-the-bbc-again-401487.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
}}

He was a key player in United's third successive league title in [[2000–01 in English football|2000–01]], only the fourth time that any club had achieved three league titles in a row. He scored nine Premier League goals, and had the [[2000–01 FA Premier League#Top assists|most assists in the league]] with 12.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.premierleague.com/stats/top/players/goal_assist |title=Statistical Leaders – 2001 |publisher=Premier League |access-date=5 May 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170624144700/https://www.premierleague.com/stats/top/players/goal_assist |archive-date=24 June 2017}}</ref>