Brooklyn Beckham’s former football coach has spoken of his concern for the “shy and polite” teenager he once trained, admitting he felt “quite sad” watching him navigate what he described as a “crackers” life in the public eye.
The 26-year-old reignited tensions with his family earlier this month after releasing a blistering statement in which he said he had no desire to reconcile with his parents and accused them of controlling the narrative around his life.
Anthony McCool, who coached him as a 14-year-old youth player at Queens Park Rangers, recalled an incident where Brooklyn arrived at training without a drink, prompting a security guard to rush in with a crate of Lucozade. McCool said the moment made him uneasy: “I kind of caught Brooklyn and looked at him and thought, ‘Wow, this life is crackers.’”
McCool described Brooklyn as “quiet” and “polite” but noted he never showed extreme emotions. “He would worry me because we never saw any kind of either massively high emotion or massively low… he was almost like he was in this daze.”
Despite Brooklyn’s recent criticism of his parents, McCool defended Sir David and Victoria Beckham, suggesting they were navigating an impossible situation and may have been “trying to do the right thing” by giving him space.
