As the seventh season of Dream Team kicks off, Harchester United fans welcome a glamorous new signing. Luke Davenport is the clubs new striker, signed from Barcelona and played, complete with Becks-Style hairband, by Neil Newbon. 'Luke started off at Manchester United as one of the wonder boys' explains Neil, son of ITV sports pundit Gary.
'He went to the academy there and progressed through the various clubs before going to Real Madrid - oh sorry, not Real, that's Beckham, isn't it! -to Barcelona, where he spend the last couple of years.' It seems as though Newbon himself is confusing Davenport's story with Beckham's ....so how similar are the two players?
'There are some similarities,' he admits. 'The glamorous lifestyle is Beckham's. But Luke is not a character based on David Beckham, a parody or a caricature. When I first read the script I had reservations, as I thought they'd just basically do the Beckham story. But when I read a couple more that wasn't the case. If you juxtapose the two, Beckham is incredibly naive compared to the way Luke looks at the world. Luke is totally fanatical and ambitious.' Which begs the question, why has this footballing genius joined the serially unlucky Harchester United, who narrowly escaped relegation at the end of last season, and are embroiled in a battle for control of the boardroom?
'He came back to England to peruse his main focus, which is to become one of the best footballers England has ever seen. Imagine when Charlton first got into the Premiership - it would be like Beckham suddenly gone to Charlton -it just doesn't happen!'
Neil grew up surrounded by famous footballers and top sportsmen because of his dad. 'I used to call Jimmy Greaves uncle. And when I was eight I challenged a black athlete to the 100 meters. I later discovered it was Carl Lewis. Through dad I also met boxers, including Frank Bruno, and I saw the first Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn fight.'
Despite, or possibly because of, his father's football connections, Newbon grew up without playing the game or supporting a team. As a result, the 25-year-old has had to work on his footballing skills since joining Dream Team. 'Coming in as a complete novice and seeing all these guys who are semi-professional makes you realise you have to be ludicrously good to be a pro,' he says. 'I am not a natural footballer, I don't think I've played since I was a kid. These guys are very good, they have helped me a lot. We actually play as a team at weekends in charity matches. Needless to say, though I'm quite fit, in a few months I had to learn some of the skills that most footballers learn over the space of 18 to 20 years. It was baptism by football.' Neil has already lost a stone 'It's been a lot of hard work, I have to train every day like a real footballer and I have to keep to a diet. It has made me change shape. It was terrifying at first filming some of my first scenes at Millwall's ground. But I finally got the hang of striking the ball correctly, heading and crossing.' As well as scoring on a regular basis on the pitch, it looks as if Luke is set to emulate fellow Harchester striker Fletch by getting in plenty of training between the sheets. 'Luke's not there to make friends, have a good time, pull women and drive fast cars- but he does. The lifestyle is subsidiary to the fact that he just wants to be the best footballer in the world. Having said that, he's already been through about seven women in four episodes!'
Neil Newbon says his character will make a big impact when he joins Dream Team with Luke as Harchester's biggest signing ever at £28m. Neil says 'He's the love child of David Beckham, Teddy Sheringham and Clint Eastwood, but you should subtract the shallow end. He is very confident but that's mistaken for arrogance. He is also very successful with the ladies.'
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