Infotainment Factory: Reason for 'stubborn' Beckham act that infuriated icon

Manchester United legend David Beckham has opened up on the events that led to his rebellious act against coach Sir Alex Ferguson in the new Netflix documentary Beckham.

Throughout their careers, the men had a troubled relationship as the English superstar continued to become a phenomenon off the field.

In 2000, Beckham told the club he wouldn't be at training because son Brooklyn was sick, however he expressed his belief in the documentary that no one believed him because he was pictured with a glass of champagne in London with wife Victoria.

Ferguson and Beckham then had an argument on the training pitch the following day with the latter deciding he'd shave his head in the aftermath.

"I had a hairdresser at the time called Tyler, I said to him 'I'm going to cut my hair'," Beckham recounted.

"He said 'you sure? You really want to do that?'."

Before United's clash in March against Leicester City, Beckham was sporting a cap with Ferguson telling him to take the hat off to which he replied "no".

"Stubbornness ... and I said 'oh well'," Ferguson laughed.

Teammate Gary Neville couldn't believe it.

"You asking for a bollocking, you're asking for trouble," he said.

"He knew that'd piss Sir Alex off, so why do it?"

Fellow United legend Roy Keane didn't find it as shocking.

"That was his personality, never bothered me in the least," he said.

"I used to think, you better back it up on the weekend."

Beckham: "I never did it to create attention, I'm not that person."

While the act was causing trouble in United's inner sanctum, it was creating pandemonium off the field.

Kids in Manchester wanted to imitate Beckham, who had become the biggest superstar in the city.

"When David Beckham shaved his head , I honestly thought a member of my family had died because my phone went off," Manchester paparazzi members Eamonn and James Clarke revealed.

"The panic in people's voice that this (had happened) and we hadn't got it documented yet.

"Literally kids (saying) 'I want to be David Beckham, I want to shave my head'. And schools were having to write in: no shaving of heads."

Beckham's wife Victoria believed it was simply a coming of age for her husband.

"David starts going from a boy to a man and it's only natural you're going to start flexing your muscles, right? And don't all kids rebel against their parents?" she said.

Later in the year, Beckham also sported a mohawk, stating in a press conference: "It's just me".