LONDON: Six Manchester United icons including David Beckham on Sunday attended the London premiere of a film celebrating the youth team that would go on to transform the English football club into a global phenomenon.
Speaking on the red carpet in front of hordes of fans at London’s Leicester Square, Beckham predicted high emotions when he and his family watched “The Class of 92,” a documentary which goes behind the scenes of United’s legendary 1992 youth team.
The film focusses on the six players who went on to star for the first team during a period of unprecedented success for the northern England powerhouse, under the guidance of recently retired manager Alex Ferguson.
The other five players — brothers Gary and Phil Neville, midfielder Nicky Butt, current first-teamer Ryan Giggs and recently retired Paul Scholes — were also in London for the premiere.
“There will be a few tears in there from my mum I’m sure,” said Beckham, who was flanked by his wife Victoria and three sons, Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz.
“There were good times, there were bad times, there were troubled times where we all stuck together,” explained the 38-year-old.
“But that is part of the movie, part of the history of the six of us. That is why it makes this such a great story.”
Pundits wrote off United when the youngsters were thrown into the first team at the start of the 1995 season.
Instead, the often underperforming club went on a trophy binge and became one of the world’s most recognized sporting brands.
Despite his silver-screen appearance, Beckham wrote off ideas of an acting career.
“I’m not very good at acting, so maybe it wouldn’t be a very good idea to go into that kind of industry,” he said. “But I enjoyed doing this. It’s obviously something that I know, something that is part of our teenage years and very special.”
Beckham joins United icons for London movie premiere
Beckham joins United icons for London movie premiere
Cambodia takes back looted historic artifacts handled by British art dealer
- The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Cambodian officials on Friday received more than six dozen historic artifacts described as part of the country’s cultural heritage that had been looted during decades of war and instability.
At a ceremony attended by Deputy Prime Minister Hun Many, the 74 items were unveiled at the National Museum in Phnom Penh after their repatriation from the United Kingdom.
The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia.
“This substantial restitution represents one of the most important returns of Khmer cultural heritage in recent years, following major repatriations in 2021 and 2023 from the same collection,” the Culture Ministry said in a statement. “It marks a significant step forward in Cambodia’s continued efforts to recover, preserve, and restore its ancestral legacy for future generations.”
The artifacts were described as dating from the pre-Angkorian period through the height of the Angkor Empire, including “monumental sandstone sculptures, refined bronze works, and significant ritual objects.” The Angkor Empire, which extended from the ninth to the 15th century, is best known for the Angkor Wat archaeological site, the nation’s biggest tourist attraction.
Latchford was a prominent antiquities dealer who allegedly orchestrated an operation to sell looted Cambodian sculptures on the international market.
From 1970 to the 1980s, during Cambodia’s civil wars and the communist Khmer Rouge ‘s brutal reign, organized looting networks sent artifacts to Latchford, who then sold them to Western collectors, dealers, and institutions. These pieces were often physically damaged, having been pried off temple walls or other structures by the looters.
Latchford was indicted in a New York federal court in 2019 on charges including wire fraud and conspiracy. He died in 2020, aged 88, before he could be extradited to face charges.
Cambodia, like neighboring Thailand, has benefited from a trend in recent decades involving the repatriation of art and archaeological treasures. These include ancient Asian artworks as well as pieces lost or stolen during turmoil in places such as Syria, Iraq and Nazi-occupied Europe. New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the prominent institutions that has been returning illegally smuggled art, including to Cambodia.
“The ancient artifacts created and preserved by our ancestors are now being returned to Cambodia, bringing warmth and joy, following the country’s return to peace,” said Hun Many, who is the younger brother of Prime Minister Hun Manet.
