By Matt Slater, Chief Reporter, Press Association Sport
Published: 01:03 GMT, 15 March 2019 | Updated: 01:04 GMT, 15 March 2019
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David Beckham's Major League Soccer team Inter Miami will play their first two seasons 30 miles north of the city in a completely rebuilt stadium in Fort Lauderdale, the former England captain announced on Thursday.
The 43-year-old has been looking for a home for his team for six years, with three previous options in Miami falling through due to cost, legal wrangling and local opposition before Beckham and his partners settled last year on a site near Miami's airport that currently houses a golf course.
But the ambitious Miami Freedom Park is not a certainty either, as there are still planning hurdles to clear and an expensive clear-up of toxic waste at the site to finance, leading some to question if the team would be ready to join the league in 2020.
David Beckham posted an Instagram about the news of Inter Miami's Fort Lauderdale stay
Beckham led an ownership group to buy a franchise in the MLS to be based in Miami
Inter Miami, though, have now given themselves until 2022 to solve those issues by deciding to demolish the derelict home of the state's first MLS team, the Miami Fusion, and build themselves a £45million training complex, with an 18,000-seat stadium that will be their temporary home.
As well as hosting the Fusion, who went bust in 2001, the Lockhart Stadium has also housed the Fort Lauderdale Strikers and Florida Atlantic University's gridiron team. But those days seem a long time ago now, as the pitch is overgrown, the windows broken and food stands boarded up.
Inter Miami's plan is to level it and an adjacent baseball stadium, rotate the new stadium 90 degrees so it runs from north
