David Beckham made a surprise visit to Inter Miami stadium site. Here’s what he said.
More than 400 construction workers who are building Inter Miami’s stadium and training center site in Fort Lauderdale got quite a surprise Tuesday when team co-owners David Beckham and Jorge Mas showed up and shared lunch with them.
After lunch, Beckham and Mas gathered the workers on the field to personally thank them for their work. The team is scheduled to play its inaugural match there on March 14, 2020, at 2:30 p.m. against the Los Angeles Galaxy, Beckham’s former team.
They were hoping to hold training camp at the site starting in mid-January, but it will not be done in time. The club is exploring other venues, some in South Florida and few outside the area.
Nine months ago, the owners stood among overgrown weeds in the dilapidated Lockhart Stadium and announced they planned to build a 19,000-seat stadium there to be their temporary home, and also would build a state-of-the-art training facility. The $100 million complex will include the stadium, a 50,000 square-foot training center, six grass fields and one turf field with 1,500 seats that can be used for high school football and other sports.
“I believe anything can happen if you work hard, but I looked out and thought, ‘Wow, this needs to be built really quick’ and you guys are doing that,” Beckham told the workers. “Nothing goes unnoticed, the hard work you’re doing and the passion you’re doing it with. What’s being created...it is really a miracle.”
Don Lockerbie, the managing director of Miami-based Parker Company, which is the lead consultant on the stadium project, said the workers were touched by the gesture. He admitted he got teary-eyed seeing Beckham kick a soccer ball on the newly-installed field.
“Yesterday was an emotional time seeing David Beckham joining Jorge and Jose Mas tour the stadium and training center and spend over two hours with the full construction crew and design team,” Lockerbie said. “I know everyone there appreciated the quality time they spent with us and were extra motivated to continue to get the job done and finish well.
“I will admit, when David took the first-ever kick of a football on the new pitch, I had a tear in my eye. We have come so far in such a short but intense time. It just made all of us feel so good. And then, we got back to work.”
In other team news, the club signed goalkeeper John McCarthy, 27, who most recently played for the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the USL Championship. In 2019, he made 29 regular season appearances with 10 shutouts.
“With John we are adding more talented depth to Inter Miami,” said Inter Miami sporting director Paul McDonough. “We feel his experience in the USL and MLS will be valuable to our Club.”
Before joining the Rowdies, McCarthy played in MLS for the Philadelphia Union, where he made 21 appearances in four seasons. He also played 26 games for the club’s USL affiliate, Bethlehem Steel FC.
In 2014, McCarthy played for the Rochester Rhinos in the USL Championship. He was named USL Rookie of the Year, USL Goalkeeper of the Year and USL All-League First Team for that season.
With the addition of McCarthy, Inter Miami’s roster is up to 18 players. Two high-profile “Designated Players” (their salaries can exceed the team cap) are expected to be signed by the end of December. The team can carry a roster of 30 players, and 18 of them make game-day rosters. Among the players who have been linked to Inter Miami are David Silva of Manchester City, Edinson Cavani of Paris Saint Germain and Ignacio “Nacho” Fernandez of River Plate.
This story was originally published December 4, 2019 at 12:48 PM.