Will Beckham be welcomed at the Revolution August 8?

March 5, 8:58 PMBoston Pro Soccer ExaminerL.E. Eisenmenger

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Luckily for the box office at Gillette, the Revolution is one of David Beckham’s few remaining away games before he bails out of MLS and flies back to Milan. Under the reported agreement (financial transactions not yet disclosed), Beckham will finish the season with Milan in May then play out the 2009 MLS season after the transfer window opens on July 15. Apparently there’s an escape clause in his contract and he won’t be back.

Beckham (and the Galaxy) will play in New England on August 8. Will he be booed for abandoning ship or cheered as Prince Harry was for serving on the ground with the little people?

Popular opinion says MLS got screwed, much of that based on theoretical dollars and undisclosed contracts. And there's the indignation factor. American soccer is not good enough. 

He should have played for New England

You can only do so much with what you’re given and Beckham wasn’t given very much with the LA Galaxy. He should have come to New England. The Revolution had a real team and just needed someone to cross the ball. He could have had all the privacy he wanted -- New Englanders are cold and aloof, celebrity culture déclassé. He could have drunk hot tea with Nicol and Mariner in the freezing rain and been happy. Twellman might have gotten a piece of the ball now and then. With Shalrie in the center, the midfield could have been a work of art. Albright, Heaps, and Parkhurst wouldn’t have had to work overtime for 90 minutes. It would have been great.

But maybe it wouldn’t have worked. At his press conference at the New England practice last year, Beckham was ambiguous about his feelings for the Revolution coach.

“I never liked Steve [Nicol] as a kid,” he said with a smile, “because he played for Liverpool. So it was nice, obviously, to be coached by him [in the 2008 All-Stars]. I’ve heard really good things about him, but when he was a player, like I said, I didn’t like him because I was a Man United fan.”

It’s hard to imagine David Beckham in Foxboro. But it's a lot easier to imagine the Revs winning  MLS Cup and empty seats in Gillette stadium filled with him here.

His departure will tarnish the league in the eyes of the general public he attracted to the sport, and probably in the eyes of sponsors as well. The doubters will doubt more, the haters hate more, the bitter disdainful division between fans of men’s, women’s, foreign, and youth leagues grow a little bit wider. There's a dark side to this sport.

The legacy: time for predictions

Beckham’s remarkable ability to be gracious and genuine through all the chaos was the most unexpected of his talents. Even when the Galaxy went on their losing streak (all season), he spoke openly and didn't throw blame.

"You have to stay confident ," he said, "and you have to keep the players up for the fight and up for playing games because when you do go through a tough time, it's all about sticking together as a team."

“Well, if you had all that money . . .” is the obvious retort, but seriously, since when is wealth the equivalent of character? So, Beckham will be remembered for many things besides the corner kick: the cute kid commercials, the ambition to break national records, the underwear ads, the LA lifestyle, his little family, the financial empire – the list goes on and on. 

Now it’s all becoming history, written off as a loss by many, but we’ll hear updates and analysis right through November and beyond. On August 8, New England sees David Beckham the player, the icon one last time and emotions will run high.

So readers, how will the Revolution crowd behave on August 8? How do you feel about Beckham: Exit, stage left?