David Beckham’s career has been one built on overcoming adversity. The petulant boy, sent off for kicking Diego Simeone in England’s last 16 match against Argentina at the 1998 World Cup, was reborn, reformed, redeemed with that goal against Greece in 2001, prompting the commentator to cry out “give that man a knighthood”.

It’s been 15 years since that free kick deep into stoppage time at Old Trafford and still there’s been no knighthood for Golden Balls. The leak of emails this week in which he branded the Honours Committee “unappreciative c***s” after missing out on a knighthood in 2013 and dismissed lesser awards, saying: “Unless it’s a knighthood f*** off” have led to questions regarding both the value of the honours system and the character of the former England captain.

While a spokesman for Beckham said: “This story is based on outdated material taken out of context from hacked and doctored private emails from a third party server and gives a deliberately inaccurate picture,” tabloid commentators have delighted in the news. Their corrosive faux-outrage, evident as Jan Moir in the Daily Mail referred to Beckham as a “narcissistic schemer,” while renowned moral arbiter Piers Morgan took time out of his busy daily Twitter schedule of defending Donald Trump, engaging in #classicbantz with Gary Lineker, and calling for Arsène Wenger’s sacking, to draw rather ludicrous parallels between Beckham and Jimmy Savile.

“What is clear is that Beckham, once again, finds himself on the wrong end of relentless snobbery that footballers often face”

The honours system is unquestionably awash with political cronyism. As we’ve seen all too often, gifts to political parties are often the easiest way to acquire one. The path to receiving a knighthood generally passes through Downing Street, not Buckingham Palace, which is why, presumably, David Ord, co-owner of Bristol Ports, was made a Sir in January, the reasoning behind which probably has more to do with his £930,000 donation to the Conservative Party than his political service and “service to the community in the South West.” Similarly, Lynton Crosby was awarded a knighthood in 2016, despite masterminding a mayoral campaign that suggested Labour candidate Sadiq Khan had links to terrorist organisations.

It would be difficult to suggest that Beckham deserves a knighthood for his footballing abilities and achievements alone. Look at some football personalities who have received knighthoods: Matt Busby, Bobby Charlton, Geoff Hurst, and Beckham’s former manager at Old Trafford, Alex Ferguson – Beckham’s name doesn’t quite fit. Hurst has a World Cup winner’s medal to his name, while Charlton also has a Ballon D’Or. He’s lost his England caps record to Wayne Rooney while Gareth Bale has proved to be a greater success at Real Madrid.

That is not to negate Beckham’s achievements on the pitch. He’s the first British footballer to reach a century of Champions League appearances and the only Englishman to win league titles in four different countries, as well as the only one to score in three World Cups. He was also an integral part of the famous treble-winning Manchester United team of 1999.

But Beckham’s greatest contribution to society isn’t his numerous memorable free kicks but his charity work. Even while playing, he gave his spare time to UNICEF and has been their Goodwill Ambassador since 2005. He has personally donated millions and his fund, the 7 Foundation, has raised millions more. He also donated his Paris Saint-Germain wages of about £1.5 million to a French children’s hospital in 2013.

“The most exciting player the sport has ever seen”

UNICEF has come out to defend Beckham in the face of claims that his charity work is merely a cynically self-aggrandising ploy, citing his visit to Swaziland in June 2016 to raise awareness of the devastating drought affecting Eastern and Southern Africa. According to UNICEF, the 7 Fund is helping them to provide improved water and sanitation to children and their families in Burkina Faso and provide vital support and protection to HIV-positive mothers and children in Swaziland.

The truth is that the urge to support charities came first, and the desire for a knighthood clearly came later. Even if all of Beckham’s charity work was a marketing strategy, designed to help ‘Brand Beckham’, that does not detract from the fact that he’s actually engaging with it. He no doubt could’ve taken a role on Sky Sports as a pundit alongside his old friend Gary Neville or he could’ve attempted to go into management, but he didn’t. Instead, he decided to dedicate himself to charitable activity and he should be applauded for that.

What is clear is that Beckham, once again, finds himself on the wrong end of relentless snobbery that footballers often face, rooted in the old idea that they, however rich, should know their place. Their exorbitant salaries, not found in other sports, somehow invalidates any positive contribution they make. For Beckham a knighthood might not be on the horizon any time soon and that’s a shame. For his tireless work on the pitch as England’s urgent and darkly heroic captain, to his tireless efforts off it for a variety of charitable causes, he deserves to be dubbed Sir David Beckham.