Football legend David Beckham has repeatedly been overlooked for a knighthood and could again miss out in the King's New Year's Honours list.

The 49-year-old has long been tipped to become a Sir after receiving an OBE back in 2003, but has been repeatedly bypassed for the top honour, which the likes of Kenny Dalglish and Trevor Brooking have since received.

As well as captaining England and winning 19 major trophies over the course of his career, Beckham is also considered a British cultural icon and has helped raised hundreds of millions of pounds for charities around the world.

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But, despite his good relationship with King Charles III, the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star may yet be snubbed again in this year's list, with several sporting honours already set to be handed out after a busy year of sport including the Olympics and the Euros.

It comes seven years after Beckham took aim at the honours committee and claimed he "didn't care about being knighted" in a seres of X-rated leaked emails. The emails - some of which the former midfielder later claimed had been doctored - also saw him call the committee "unappreciative c***s" as he branded the snub as a "disgrace".

"I expected nothing less," Beckham is alleged to have written. "It's a disgrace to be honest and if I was American I would of [sic] got something like this 10 years ago."

The ex-England skipper then took aim at some of the others to have been honoured in the 2017 list, including Welsh singer Katherine Jenkins who received an OBE.

"For what?," Beckham is alleged to have asked. "Singing at the rugby and going to see the troops."

While he remains an icon among football fans, the Inter Miami owner has certainly not been free of controversy after hanging up his boots. In 2013, he was caught up in the Ingenious tax avoidance scheme, but was later cleared of wrongdoing and was added back to the official recommendations list.

His ambassadorial role for Qatar ahead of the 2022 World Cup also caused uproar, with the 49-year-old reportedly being paid a total sum of around £150 million to promote the Gulf state prior to the tournament. Beckham faced widespread criticism for signing that deal given Qatar's human rights record and strict laws around homosexuality, with it being illegal to be gay in the country.