Nobody can know exactly what it is like for David and Victoria Beckham to live in the double spotlight generated by their his 'n' hers celebrity, but there is one person who has a pretty good idea.

Joy Beverley - one member of the Beverley Sisters, the Spice Girls of the 1950s - married the golden-haired Billy Wright, captain of the mighty Wolverhampton Wanderers and England, and the first player to win 100 caps for his country.

They were the golden couple of their age and, although that age was a different, gentler time, Joy - now 69, widowed and living quietly in the north London suburb of Whetstone - has nothing but sympathy and affection for Becks and Posh.

Beckham is at the centre of a national debate again after giving a one-fingered response to obscene shouts about his wife and baby son from fans after England's defeat by Portugal in Euro 2000 last Monday.

England coach Kevin Keegan said Beckham had been provoked by 'unbelievable, disgusting' abuse from the fans, yet Roy Hattersley was moved to describe the Manchester United midfielder as 'a national liability'.

Seldom can one sportsman have provoked such continued controversy but Joy believes he will be sustained, like she was, by a loving relationship.

She said: 'They look a lovely couple. I don't know them, but I do know that he's a great footballer. She's been enormously successful as a singer but it's a different business today. Our harmony, the Bevs, came from our mum and dad. It was natural. So much music today seems faked. We never faked anything.

'I wish them all the best in the world, though. I really hope they're happy together and I hope David helps England win the European Championship. I'm still a great fan, not just of football, but of England.'

Joy and Billy did not suffer the sort of abuse which has become a daily part of the Beckhams' lives, but she was made aware, from the very first time she met her Mr Wright that football supporters were not always supportive.

She recalled: 'My dad loved boxing and football and used to take me along with him to see Arsenal. I learned to really enjoy watching football and one night when the Bevs were singing in Wolverhampton, we were told that the great Billy Wright was in the audience.

'So I did what we usually did in those circumstances and announced that the captain of England was in the audience. You would normally get a lot of cheering, but some chap shouted out, 'What about that penalty, Bill?' I've never forgotten that.'

Nor has she forgotten the moment they met properly, in the spring of

1958.

'We just locked eyes,' she smiled. 'It was love at first sight.'

Within weeks of their first meeting, Wright travelled to Sweden with the England squad, including players such as Bobby Charlton, Bobby Robson, Tom Finney and Don Howe, for the 1958 World Cup.

Word of their romance had already spread and the golden couple were dogged by the media, much like Posh and Becks today.

She said: 'They even photographed me when I went to post letters to him in Sweden. I remember sitting at home one night with mum and dad and all the family in pitch darkness.

'The press were outside but we wanted them to think we had all gone to bed, so they'd go away.

'Then the phone rang. It was Bill in Sweden. I told him we were all sitting in the darkness. He said, 'I wish I was sitting there with you'.'

Joy and Billy married later that year in Poole, Dorset. It was not the purple-themed extravaganza of the Beckhams' nuptials but, despite attempts to keep secret their own much quieter wedding, news leaked out and they were cheered by a huge crowd of well-wishers, photographers and newspaper reporters.

They had two children, Babette and Vicky, while Joy already had a young son Vincent from a brief marriage to an American musician.

Joy added: 'Bill always looked on Vincent as his own. He was such a wonderful man and I still miss him so much. He had time for everyone, a thoroughly decent man.'

Wright was the Beckham of his era, although there were significant differences. For a start, he was never booked, nor sent off, in more than 500 games for Wolves and 105 for England.

He retired before the abolition of the maximum wage in 1961, never earned more than £24 a week and never owned a Ferrari.

But Wolves, under Stan Cullis's management, were one of England's top teams and generated enormous excitement with a series of friendlies against foreign opposition that earned them the unofficial title 'Kings of Europe'.

Wright played in three League Championship-winning teams and captained the side that won the FA Cup in 1949. He was also voted Footballer of the Year in 1952. Only 5ft 8in, he was nonetheless an exceptionally accomplished centre-half and, when he finally hung up his boots, had captained England a record 90 times.

She admitted: 'He didn't begrudge the fact that he got a £2 bonus for a win and £1 for a draw. He simply considered it a privilege to play football for a living.'

Joy, as one third of the Beverley Sisters along with younger twins Teddy and Babs, was the big earner at the time.

They had a string of chart successes (call me old fashioned but I still love I saw Mummy kissing Santa Claus), their own TV shows and regularly topped the bill at the London Palladium.

Glitzy, glamorous and sentimental, the Beverley Sisters were the highest-paid female group in Europe, but had none of the hard edge or attitude that epitomises the current generation of pop stars.

It was a kinder age, a time when men were men, pansies were things that grew in the park and the only bloke to wear earrings was Long John Silver in pantomimes.

She said: 'It was a more caring society and in London, especially, there was a wonderful spirit that grew out of the war years.'

Joy was born in Bow and raised in Hackney, where she shared a bed with her sisters. Their parents were George Coram and Victoria Mills, a famous song and dance act who frequently topped the bill at the Hackney Empire.

Wright had four undistinguished years as manager of Arsenal before they sacked him in 1966 and brought in Bertie Mee.

'He was disappointed, but didn't hold grudges,' Joy said. 'The worst thing I ever heard him say about anyone was, 'He's a Cadbury's fruit and nut case'.

'When Arsenal sacked him, the News of the World offered him a lot of money, about £15,000 as I remember, to tell his side of the story. He refused and I remember him saying, 'They only want the dirt'.'

Wright later enjoyed a long and successful career as a television executive. He died of cancer, at the age of 70, in 1992. Joy nursed him at home in the last weeks of his life. His funeral stopped Wolverhampton as thousands flocked to pay tribute.

Although Joy would not pose for a photograph to accompany this article, she still performs with her sisters. For some reason they have a devoted following in the gay community, who perhaps identify with their flouncy, glamorous image.

She's still a slim, vivacious chatterbox, full of happy memories.

From time to time she breaks into song. 'D'you remember that one?' she asks. 'You don't, do you?'

If Posh Spice wears as well, Becks will be well pleased with himself.

Joy has no regrets, except that her beloved Billy is not with her now.

She revealed: 'I love England and I think that Englishmen are the best in the world. I was married to the very best... and I wouldn't change a thing.'