Football: Aussie clubs line up to lure Beckham

SYDNEY: Australian football clubs are queuing up to bring former England captain David Beckham to the country’s A-League in January, despite the 37-year-old denying a deal is in the offing. Beckham’s management team on Friday played down talk of any move Down Under, after Football Federation Australia (FFA) said that the star player wanted to join an A-League club. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Melbourne Heart and Adelaide United were also in the race along with an unnamed side that has already made a secret bid. “We’ve just put forward our position to the people we understand are representing him and we would like to take it further,” said United Chairman Greg Griffin. Beckham remains one of the biggest names in football and his presence in the A-League alongside Del Piero and ex-England striker Emile Heskey would help ratchet up the competition’s image.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 20^th, 2012.