Sir David Beckham has shared photos from his youth as he celebrated his father Ted's 78th birthday.
The retired footballer, 51, looks remarkably similar to his son Cruz in one snap, which shows him as a young boy dressed in a football kit and showing off a trophy, while his father rests his hands on his shoulders.
Another photo shows a teenage Sir David with Ted at the Manchester United Supporters Club souvenir shop.
He wrote: "Happy Birthday dad, love you. Have the best day you deserve it x".
Other more recent photos show Sir David straightening his father's tie, while another shows them embracing.
Family background
Sir David's parents, Ted and Sandra, 77, married in 1969 and had three children: Lynne, 54, Sir David, and Joanne, 44. Ted and Sandra divorced in 2002 after 33 years of marriage. He married Hilary Meredith in December 2021, with Sir David as his best man.
Father's influence on football career
Ted, an ardent Manchester United supporter, instilled a love of football in his son and taught him how to play every night after work. In his 2003 autobiography, David Beckham: My Side, the star wrote: "We'd started by kicking a ball about in the back garden, but I was murdering the flowerbeds so, after he got in from his job as a heating engineer, we'd go to the park together and just practise and practise for hours on end."
In the 2022 Disney+ docuseries, Save Our Squad With David Beckham, Sir David recalled how his mother would drive him to training and games when his father was working. He said: "I, as a parent now, realise how much my parents gave up for me."
