David Beckham was red carded at a kids match

Always the composed, corporate-friendly gentleman away from the game, David Beckham is a fierce competitor on the pitch who has never shied away from telling a referee exactly what he's thinking. This has gotten him in trouble from time to time and as he revealed on Saturday's episode of The Jonathan Ross show, it's even gotten him kicked out of a Los Angeles area children's match (7:28 into the video above) just for trying to defend a seven-year-old kid.

Said Beckham, with a smile:

"I was watching the kids play the other day, it was the younger kids of [middle son] Romeo's club, and there was a penalty given.

"And the kids are seven years old and he [the referee] sent the kid off. And I was like, 'Come on, he's seven, referee, you can't send him off.' And he looked at me and was like, 'Yes, I can'.

"And I said, 'Well, you can't, he's seven years old.' And he came over and he gave me a red card. He told me to get out of the park. For real.

"The gate was only 20 yards away so I went to the other side of the gate and I came back when my son's game was on."

Did the ref realize who he was sending off? Was he a Manchester City fan? Was that really all Beckham said to get a straight red? We may never know. At least until the inevitable paparazzi video shows up. This was in LA, after all.

Beckham went on to say that while the referees might not appreciate his presence, the other dads enjoy having him around and that sometimes he helps coach the kids. Which could mean good things for the U.S. national team in 12-15 years.