Funny old game

Aiming high

Fortunately, the Beckhams will not be starved of media coverage

Aspiring journalists used to dream that, one day, they would be a foreign or perhaps political correspondent of one of the country's national newspapers.

Now there is a new role to tempt them - that of official David Beckham correspondent.

The Daily Mirror has pioneered this highbrow position, appointing Stephen Moyes as the world's first full-time reporter on the activities of Becks.

The move is likely to increase the already sky-high number of column inches devoted to El Becks, especially if other tabloids follow the Mirror's lead.

The amount of attention sparked by the England captain's move to the Spanish champions is already at unprecedented levels.

Around 520 reporters are expected at Real Madrid's training ground on Wednesday just to see him receive his shirt.

To put that into perspective, last year's World Cup in Japan and Korea - the biggest football event ever - attracted slightly more than 4,000 reporters.

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Getting shirty

In a double whammy for those who follow football for "aesthetic" rather than sporting reasons, Fifa has banned the practice of players taking off their shirts to celebrate a goal.

So fans will not only miss out on the photogenic features of Beckham next season - they will also be deprived of seeing their favourite hunky soccer torsos.

The executive committee of world football's governing body took the decision in the interests of "discipline and to maintain order on the pitch".

Muscular striker Ade Akinbiyi set the trend in motion when displaying his well-toned frame after scoring for Leicester.

Such was the reaction to his physique, Akinbiyi wisely opted to miss the target for the following 18 months.