Never the same after the Beckhams came to town

MADRID, July 19 (Reuters) The choreographed film-star presentation, the photo-hungry paparazzi, the horde of English journalists that descended on Real Madrid's training ground, all this should have warned me that things were about to change.

I had been writing about Spanish football for over seven years, chronicling the fortunes of the leading clubs, their larger-than-life presidents and big-name players, but nothing prepared me for the arrival in 2003 of the David Beckham circus.

More often than not I had been the only English journalist present at training, the atmosphere was relaxed, interviews were easy, exclusives common.

Even after the arrival of Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo you could still have an individual chat to the players as they emerged from the changing rooms. Not any more.

I had thought Beckham would be like other Galactico signings - a few weeks of mayhem and then back to business as usual.

I had been out of Britain for nearly a decade and hadn't realised ''Goldenballs'' was more than just a famous footballer.

His long-term association with the most romantic club in English football, his tribulations after the 1998 World Cup, his good looks and careful image cultivation, his celebrity marriage to Posh Spice, all meant he transcended the boundaries of the sport and became part of the cultural fabric.

Don't try and visualise it, but Beckham was Bobby Moore, Princess Diana and Paris Hilton all rolled into one.

CELEBRITY With the arrival of the band of English reporters, cut-throat competition was injected into the job.

Jealous protection of information, suspicion, a fear of missing out on a story all came with the Beckham beat.

Like myself, Real were totally unprepared for the English invasion and were taken aback when British tabloids sent out non-sports staff to report on the Beckham celebrity angle.

One journalist wore a Beckham number 23 shirt to news conferences and asked about the midfielder's latest hair-style and tattoos or his relationship with Posh.

Unlike other footballing imports, Beckham struggled with Spanish, never advancing much beyond his two favourite phrases ''impresionante'' and ''muy bueno''.

That he was diplomatic to a fault, refused to criticise Manchester United and avoided controversy did not matter.

Anything Beckham said, no matter how banal, was news.

The ''tabloid treatment'' meant that minor stories became major ones, while mistranslations and misinterpretations created mountains of extra work.

One colleague set alarm bells ringing when he reported that Beckham had ''arthritis'' after seeing the word in a club medical report. In fact it meant that he had nothing more than a swollen big toe from a tackle in a recent league encounter.

READY TO POUNCE But while the press put Beckham on a pedestal they were also ready to pounce on anything that might stain his image.

The revelations from Beckham's personal assistant Rebecca Loos about her alleged affair with him changed everything.

Real reduced access to the players. Beckham, understandably, became less forthcoming and more withdrawn.

Despite the arrival of other English players Beckham remained the biggest news. His resignation as England captain and speculation over his move to the US dominated.

It wasn't just the coverage of Spanish football that changed with the arrival of Beckham. One look at Real Madrid's accounts and it was clear that it was his presence that had catapulted the club to the top of football's rich list.

Burgeoning shirt sales, the cracking of the Asian market, lucrative pre-season tours, the soaring interest in Spanish football in Britain were all down to him.

Despite the cynical exploitation of the brand you could not help by being impressed by his influence.

Real always made a point of saying that no player was bigger than the club, but with Beckham it simply wasn't true.

Reuters SAM VV1012