David Beckham was the spitting image of his son Cruz in a throwback snap as he celebrated his father Ted’s birthday with a gushing Instagram tribute.
The footballer, 51, paid tribute to Ted on his 78th birthday and said he deserved to have ‘the best day’.
David posted a gallery of snaps with his father, including one snap of him during his younger years, where he boasted a strong resemblance to his youngest son.
He captioned the post: ‘Happy Birthday dad Love you ❤️ Have the best day you deserve it x @tedbeckhamdavid.’
Over the weekend, Cruz joined his dad and their famous family at the World Cup Final in New York, while their estranged Brooklyn watched the match from home amid his ongoing feud with his parents.
While they now share a close-knit relationship, David and Ted endured their own five-year feud, and like with Brooklyn, were once not even on speaking terms.
David Beckham was the spitting image of his son Cruz in a throwback snap as he celebrated his father Ted’s birthday with a gushing Instagram tribute
He posted a gallery of snaps with his father, including one of snap of him during his younger years, where he boasted a strong resemblance to his youngest son (pictured)
After Ted suffered a near-death health scare in 2007, it sparked the pair to make amends and get back in touch – and they have been close ever since.
David previously revealed he had to wait ‘over two decades’ before getting any approval from his father over his successful football career.
Chatting to James Corden on his podcast series This Life of Mine in 2024, David admitted his ambitious drive came from the desire to please his father Ted – earning a ‘you’ve made it boy’ only after he won 100 caps.
‘My dad never told me I’d done well really until my hundredth cap. That was the first time my dad turned around to me and said, ‘you’ve made it boy’.
He said he didn’t get the same recognition at any other point in his career despite six Premier League titles, two FA cups, four Community Shields and a Champions League title.
David’s parents divorced in 2002 following 33 years of marriage – with the process slow because the couple had not been able to agree a financial settlement.
The pair were rarely seen together in the years that followed, and it became clear that David had taken his mother’s side during the divorce – often pictured with his mum Sandra at family gatherings and promotional events.
David posted a gallery of snaps with his father, including one of snap of him during his younger years, where he boasted a strong resemblance to his youngest son
He captioned the post: ‘Happy Birthday dad Love you ❤️ Have the best day you deserve it x @tedbeckhamdavid’
While they now share a close-knit relationship, David and Ted endured their own five-year feud, and like with Brooklyn, were once not even on speaking terms
Relations finally improved in 2007 when Ted suffered a near-fatal heart attack aged 58, where paramedics fought for three hours to save him
Meanwhile, Ted was left on the sidelines, with David seemingly struggling to forgive him for printing an unauthorised biography on his England captain son without permission.
Ted was said to have been a harsh taskmaster while David was growing up berating him for any tiny footballing mistakes on the training pitch and matches – and this tough love spilt into his marriage.
David admitted as they were growing up, he never saw his father be tender to his mum.
He wrote in his 2001 autobiography: ‘He loves my mum but he’s never been affectionate to her in front of my two sisters and me. He’s quite hard-faced and can be sarcastic.
‘He also gets fired up easily… The quality I like least in myself is my short temper. I think I get it from my dad.’
The pair also struggled to bond when the former England captain moved to Real Madrid in 2003 – with Ted admitting the distance meant he feared he’d ‘lost him forever’.
At the time, he said: ‘I don’t know if I can repair my relationship with him. Nobody wants to see history repeating itself.
‘It shouldn’t take a tragedy or a hospital dash to force a family to make peace.’
This was compounded by the 2005 publication of Ted’s unauthorised biography David Beckham: My Son, which only deepened the rift.
Frosty relations continued when Ted refused David’s offer of tickets to watch him play in the 2006 World Cup.
But relations finally improved in 2007 when Ted suffered a near-fatal heart attack aged 58, where paramedics fought for three hours to save him and he was told he had ‘died’ in the ambulance on the way to the hospital before being rushed into surgery to unblock an artery.
David, who had just transferred to LA Galaxy, flew home from the US immediately and rushed to his dad’s bedside, and it pushed both men to finally put the feud behind them.
David paid off his dad’s mortgage and bought him a Jaguar, and by 2021, old wounds appeared to have healed as David was the best man at his father’s wedding to partner Hilary, and he proudly celebrated his son’s birthday last year.
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