On the back of a wildly successful Sydney friendly in 2007, Galaxy ended their MLS season with another trip to Australia in November 2010

For a few days, the popular surf spot north of Sydney rode the Beckham mania wave ahead of the glamour Saturday night fixture at a sold-out Hunter Stadium.

Met by then NSW Premier Kristina Keneally, the MLS outfit were feted by the good and great of Sydney and Newcastle's glitterati.

And for a raw 21-year-old like Regan - in his debut season with the Jets after transitioning from mixing cement for a living to professional football - it was all an eye-opener.

Particularly so after idolising Beckham and fellow Manchester United superstar Roy Keane.

 

However, surprisingly, Beckham asked the young Jet to do him a small favour out on the park, as Regan explained to FTBL. 

“I remember before the match speaking with David Beckham. It was the night before the match and we had a function.

“And Beckham explained to me he had a teammate he didn’t really like.

“And he asked me personally to try to wind up an LA Galaxy teammate of his during the game. I still remember that.

“I won’t mention the teammate of Beckham, but I tried once early in the game and he ripped me! He left me on halfway looking like an idiot.

“So I didn’t try and get him again," Regan said from his base in Kuala Lumpur, where he plays for Selangor.

Landon Donovan opened the scoring early, getting in between Regan and the Jets keeper to put the visitors a goal up. 

The hosts equalised with a poacher’s goal from Sash Petrovski before Labinot Haliti slammed home the winner for the hosts in the second half to register a 2-1 victory.

Beckham, who picked up a groin strain in the MLS two weeks earlier, battled on after a back injury slowed him down early in the game.

But it didn’t detract from an epic night, later awarded the Hunter's Best Sporting Event of 2010 and one which generated $1million in ticket and corporate sales. 

“For me, it was very early in my career that Beckham game. And I probably took it for granted with some of the names out there on the pitch,” added Regan, a former ball-boy for Newcastle Breakers. 

“I still remember my interview before the game with FTBL very well,” Regan added.

“It was an amazing experience with arguably one of the biggest personalities in the world in David Beckham.

“When we were out there, it felt like they were on a bit of a holiday, to be honest.

"It was the end of their season and I don’t think Beckham took it as seriously as what he would have a league game for points.

“But every time Beckham got the ball the crowd went crazy.


Regan was interviewed before the game by FTBL

“And I also remember Nikolai Topor Stanley my centre back partner that night went to pass a ball and it went through Beckham’s legs.

“And there’s Nikolai looking at me with this expression of shock, miming he’d just nutmegged David Beckham!

“And we just started laughing."

One player missing from the Jets starting line-up that night was Ljubo Milicevic. Regan may not have played if the former Socceroo was fit.

But his special memories of the elegant and charismatic character remain.

“Beckham was a big character but also a humble guy. And it was amazing to meet him, though he was too busy laughing at Ljubo’s jokes to say too much!

“Ljubo knew everyone in Newcastle and basically organised everything for Beckham off the pitch!

“Ljubo organised the after-party and there were people from Home and Away [TV show] there.

“Ljubo was at nightspot Goldbergs with Beckham, too, the night before the game, for a dinner.

“If you wanted to party and have a good night, you contacted Ljubo, that’s for sure," recalled Regan. 

The era of characters in the A-League is probably over, with Milicevic and Archie Thompson now both retired from professional football.

Regan agrees but explains the difficulties for players who have an opinion.

“I guess we’re all victims of the system, to an extent. Unless you’re a big, big player, it’s hard to speak out because you can get thrown to the side if you say the wrong thing within the A-League.

“Archie was a different level and Ljubo again was so vocal about things, and he still is to this day.

“But in terms of football talent, I can’t compare to those guys. To say I’m a character in their league is probably a little different.

“And Ljubo's natural talent, to this day, I struggle to think of a player that had more potential than Ljubo. I played beside him at the start of my career and he was some footballer.

“I remember my debut in the A-League against Brisbane Roar in October 2010. And our manager at the time was Branko Culina.

Ljubo and Archie in their Victory days

“Branko told Ljubo before the game, ‘just stay beside Taylor and talk him through the game and don’t do anything silly or erratic'.

“And at one point I remember looking around and seeing the clock and it was 30 minutes in, and we’re up 1-0, and I looked to my right to see where is Ljubo.

“And he was playing right wing!

"He was doing step-overs and I was like, ‘what is going on here?!’ 

"He was meant to be leading me and there he is on the right side of attack giving it the razzle-dazzle. That was Ljubo for you… unique.

“Not long after that he played for Hajduk Split and played Stoke in the Europa League. He is a unique character but was very, very talented."

Keep an eye out for the second part of FTBL’s interview with Taylor Regan later in the week, where he discusses the social media talk about him returning to the A-League at Adelaide and how the comments about being “recycled rubbish” spurred him on.