A REFRESHING CHANGE

He might be the unrivalled darling of the national game, but David Beckham has not yet achieved enough to win a place in the National Football Museum's Hall of Fame, unveiled yesterday.

Two other recent international stars ­ Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker ­ also failed to progress from a shortlist of 96 whittled down to 23 players and six managers by a distinguished panel of 20 judges.

The Football Museum, in Preston, Lancashire, said the players selected for the Hall of Fame had to have made a "lasting contribution to the British game and played in its leagues" and that Beckham had "a few years left" in his career to prove his worth to the nation .

The list is not entirely devoid of players from the past five years ­ and of those who still play. Paul Gascoigne, the "daft as a brush" midfielder, has a place, as does the controversial Frenchman Eric Cantona.