David Beckham Football Academy To Close

The David Beckham Academy in North Greenwich, which was opened in 2005 by the lank-haired ex-England captain as a cutting-edge facility aimed at helping impoverished kids and teasing out the next generation of footballer, is likely to close early in 2010 when its five-year lease runs out. Despite being popular with locals and schoolkids, site owner AEG say that the decision has been made to expand the "Beckham Academy brand" across the country, and indeed worldwide: the midfielder has already established a similar academy in his American domicile of Los Angeles, based at the altogether more glamorous location of his LA Galaxy side's Home Depot Centre. The Greenwich building will be used as a training facility for the 2012 Olympics, but its long-term future remains uncertain.