David Beckham's Miami stadium hopes rekindled by ‘outpost’ offer

Posted Sunday, August 03, 2014 by Dailystar.co.uk

DAVID Beckham’s bid to launch a new football team in Miami has turned into a game of two halves.

David Beckham's Miami stadium hopes rekindled by ‘outpost’ offer
GOLDENBALLS: David Beckham is desperate to get plans for his MLS team approved

After being booted out of three prime city sites, he has now been offered land to build a stadium in the tiny city of Homestead, one of Florida’s most remote outposts.

It is closer to the holiday island of Key Largo than it is to the city of Miami.

And it has a population of only 64,000 – less than half that of Blackpool – in an area much the same size at 14 square miles.

The quiet rural backwater’s cultural highspots include two prisons. But the 2,282 inmates of Homestead and Dade Correctional Institutions will not be attending matches any time soon.

Goldenballs and his posse of backers, dubbed Team Beckham United, have been invited to move to Homestead by local Congressman Joe Garcia, who represents the district.

He says people there “feel a strong sense of solidarity” with the new MLS franchise.

A source close to Beckham, 39, confirmed last night: “David and his team are looking at the site.

"But he feels humiliated that his first choices have been thrown out and what should have been an easy passage to establishing a new Major League Soccer team has become exasperating.

David Beckham's Miami stadium hopes rekindled by ‘outpost’ offer "He’s a long way from throwing in the towel yet but, ultimately, if he can’t find a home base in or very close to Miami itself, he could move the entire franchise elsewhere.”

Homestead, a 35-mile drive from Miami, made international headlines when it was virtually wiped off the map after Hurricane Andrew devastated the region in August 1992.

But Becks and his backers are likely to be impressed by low local land prices and building costs – and little likelihood of opposition from pressure groups.

Team Beckham United’s initial idea was to build a 25,000-capacity stadium with its own mini shopping arcade on the waterfront at Port Miami.

Elaborate architectural plans were drawn up but they were thrown out when it was ruled the project would have led to huge traffic snarl-ups – and could have cost some dock workers their jobs.

The former Man United and England captain then targeted Biscayne Bay but came under fire, as we exclusively revealed, when local environmentalists claimed building a stadium would drive species – including the pink roseate spoonbill bird – from their protected habitats.

Becks was booted out again after a local referendum, in which residents voted in favour of the wildlife activists.

A third plan, to build on Miami’s Museum Park, was thwarted by city mayor Carlos Gimenez, who turned down rent of around £291,500 a year for the site.

US businessman John Alschuler, Becks’ top negotiator, confirmed Homestead was now a possibility.