British soccer star David Beckham said this week that he feels Jewish because of his grandfather.

When asked during a discussion at the London Jewish Cultural Center by host Kirsty Young if he seems himself as Jewish in any way, the 41-year-old Beckham responded, “My grandfather was Jewish, that was on my mother’s side, so yes, I do.”

Beckham’s maternal grandfather, Joseph West, died in 2009 at age 83. “My granddad would follow me everywhere to watch me play [soccer],” Beckham said.

“I was never brought up Jewish, but like I said, my grandfather was, and every time we went to synagogue, I was part of that,” he said, London’s Jewish Chronicle reported.