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Former England captain David Beckham was officially awarded an Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise in Miami on Monday.

“It is with tremendous pride that we welcome Miami to Major League Soccer,” said MLS Commissioner Don Garber in a statement.

“We know the right people are in place and the time is right for Miami to become a great Major League Soccer city. This ownership is committed to bringing Miami the elite-level soccer team, stadium and fan experience it richly deserves. We look forward to working with the entire organization on a strategic and successful launch for Miami’s MLS club.”

Beckham first announced his plan for a team in the South Florida city four years ago but has faced a series of problems in finding a suitable venue and has adjusted the consortium backing his plan.

Beckham and his consortium of backers held an event with local politicians and fans in downtown Miami on Monday.

But the ex-Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder, whose right to a discounted franchise was part of the deal which brought him to play in MLS in 2007, says the problems are now history.

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“It has been a process. It’s been painful at times,” Beckham told Miami’s Local 10 News station.

“I think the fact that it has taken this long, the fact that it’s taken four years actually has worked as a positive,” he added, saying he has been able to develop a deeper understanding of the city and its fans.

“I’ve always believed in the project. That’s why, for me, I never gave up. I knew Miami was the city. I knew this was going to be special.

“There have been many (hurdles),” Beckham said. “I’m a persistent person and I don’t like to lose.”

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The Beckham group had two different plans for waterside stadium venues both defeated and were unable to secure a deal for a third location close to the Miami Marlins baseball arena.

The latest proposed site is in the Overtown neighborhood where the group has purchased six acres of land and has an agreement for three more acres after a deal with Miami Dade County authorities.

That plan has also faced local opposition, including a legal challenge from businessman Bruce Matheson, and must still gain zoning approval, but Beckham says there is no doubt the Overtown site is the one his team will call home.

“This is our site,” Beckham said. “This is a site we have paid for. This is a site we plan on using.”

The franchise rights will cost Beckham $25 million, according to multiple reports, which is well below the market rate.

The owners of Los Angeles FC, which joins the league in March, are reported to have paid over $100 million for their franchise rights.

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David Robert Joseph Beckham, is an English former professional footballer. He played for Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, Milan, LA Galaxy, Paris Saint-Germain and the England national team for which he held the appearance record for an outfield player until 2016 when Wayne Rooney surpassed his total. He is the first English player to win league titles in four countries: England, Spain, the United States and France. He announced his retirement in May 2013 after a 20-year career, during which he won 19 major trophies.[5][6]

Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending free-kicks as a right winger, Beckham was runner up in the Ballon d’Or, twice runner-up for FIFA World Player of the Year and in 2004 he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world’s greatest living players.  He was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2008. A global ambassador for the sport, Beckham is regarded as a British cultural icon.

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Beckham’s professional club career began with Manchester United, where he made his first-team debut in 1992 aged 17.  With United, he won the Premier League title six times, the FA Cup twice, and the UEFA Champions League in 1999. He then played four seasons with Real Madrid, winning the La Liga championship in his final season with the club. In July 2007 Beckham signed a five-year contract with Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy. While a Galaxy player, he spent two loan spells in Italy with Milan in 2009 and 2010. He was the first British footballer to play 100 UEFA Champions League games.

In international football, Beckham made his England debut on 1 September 1996 at the age of 21. He was captain for six years, earning 58 caps during his tenure. He made 115 career appearances in total, appearing at three FIFA World Cup tournaments, in 1998, 2002 and 2006, and two UEFA European Championship tournaments, in 2000 and 2004.

Beckham has consistently ranked among the highest earners in football, and in 2013 he was listed as the highest-paid player in the world, earning over $50 million in the previous 12 months. He has been married to Victoria Beckham since 1999 and they have four children.  He has been a UNICEF UK ambassador since 2005, and in 2015 he launched 7: The David Beckham UNICEF Fund.[20] In 2014, MLS announced Beckham and a group of investors would own an expansion team in Miami, which would begin in 2020. 

The project remained on the verge of collapse until local construction magnates the Mas brothers, Jorge and José, joined the ownership group in December shortly after losing out on the bidding to buy the Miami Marlins baseball team.

“[The struggle to found the club] speaks to our desire to have an MLS team in Miami,” said Commissioner Garber. “This is a very important city in our country. It’s very culturally diverse, it’s got enormous energy and a Hispanic and Latino culture that really is one of the key demographic drivers in our country, which as you all know, is more important now than at any other time, in terms of what that means politically.”

Beckham’s group has long envisioned a European-style “walk to the match” in the historically African American neighbourhood, where there is still ardent opposition and an ongoing legal appeal. It’s a couple of miles away from the initially-proposed waterfront location next door to the NBA’s Miami Heat, but a world away in terms of the glamour originally sought by Beckham in 2014.

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Beckham added: “I’m English, so I’m coming into this wanting to learn, but I want to be a good neighbour. I don’t want to have any problems and obviously we want to make people happy.”

The appetite for the football in the city is currently at its highest since the Miami Fusion folded back in 2001. Recently, while Beckham’s group wrangled with politicians, second-tier Miami FC, co-owned by Italian legend Paulo Maldini, has come to the fore. The team made it to the quarter-finals of the US Open Cup last season drawing crowds upwards of 10,000 during the run. The MLS team, with Beckham behind it and rapid support already in place, will hope to build on that.

Eric Braz, founding member of the Miami MLS Southern Legion Supporters Group, until Monday the game’s loyalest fans without a team, said: “My life is complete again. This is going to bring the community together around soccer. We set this group up in a bar 10 years ago. There were times we thought this wasn’t going to happen, but today we finally get to celebrate.”