David Beckham Headed Back to the U.S.—Without His Family

After four years of planning, he is finally launching a Major League Soccer team in Miami

By Zach Johnson Jan 29, 2018 2:40 PMTags
Romeo Beckham, Brooklyn Beckham, Cruz Beckham, David BeckhamInstagram

David Beckham is leaving London—temporarily, at least.

The retired soccer player announced Monday that he is officially launching a Major League Soccer team in Florida. "Everyone knows that we did the announcement for Miami four years ago, and then we've had a lot of bumps along the road, and that's been frustrating," he told Adrienne Bankert on Good Morning America Monday. "But now we're in such a positive place."

David, who retired five years ago, credited his four children—Brooklyn Beckham, 18, Romeo Beckham, 15, Cruz Beckham, 12, and Harper Beckham, 6—with inspiring him to start a new team. "People turn around to me after my career and say, 'What, are you going to go sit on the beach? You're going to go relax? You don't have to work anymore.' And I'm like, 'No,' because the lesson that I want to teach my kids is, 'Yes, Daddy worked hard as a footballer for the last 22 years, but now I'm working on hard on the business side." As he worked overtime to launch the team in Miami, he said, "They've seen daddy fly to Miami. They've seen him come back. They've seen him smile from talking about Miami. They've seen me frustrated. The way of teaching them is by saying, 'It's not all smooth sailing; there's going to be difficult times. It's [about] how you react when you go through difficult times.' That's what I've always tried to teach the kids."

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Calling his kids "amazing" and "polite," David said, "They're passionate about everything they do...I'm working hard for them. I want them to say, you know, 'Daddy works really hard for us.'"

David said he plans on "spending a huge amount of time" in Miami to deal with the business side of things—but his family will not be relocating the U.S., as they did when he joined the L.A. Galaxy in 2007 (after he signed a five-year, $250 million contract). Now that his children are older, he wants them to maintain a sense of "normality" and continue their education in the U.K. "Whenever they can," the athlete assured Adrienne, "they will be coming over [to Miami]."

(Brooklyn, meanwhile, is currently a freshman at Parsons School of Design in New York City.)

David added that he is "so proud of all the kids," especially his youngest. "She's running the family. She's running the household. She's the boss," he said of Harper. "And I'm more than happy to let her be that person. I can't say no to her on any level, which obviously pleases my wife, as you can imagine." Compared to fashion designer Victoria Beckham, he admitted, "I'm definitely a little softer with the kids. I let them get away with a little more than Victoria does."