THE world thought it was a circus, but US soccer league chief Don Garber reveals the strategy behind securing David Beckham in 2007, with the legacy being felt more than ever in his retirement.

America’s Major League Soccer and the A-League tweaked rules for international megastars at a similar time in their evolution.

It was 2007 and the MLS was expanding, but ambitious chiefs wanted its growth turbocharged.

“Our research told us that fans wanted to see two things — more US national team players on MLS rosters and some global stars,’’ MLS commissioner Don Garber said.

“We asked who was the biggest global star? It’s David Beckham and we said, ‘OK, so how do we get him to the MLS?’ We reached out to him and the rest is history.’’

In 2014 the A-League had stagnated and with Alessandro Del Piero leaving, Football Federation Australia was giftwrapped an ideal replacement by Melbourne City’s new owners.

City Football Group had lured Frank Lampard from Chelsea, having sold him an exciting “project” playing for both their New York and Melbourne clubs.

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Looking to exploit the same loan rules that delivered Melbourne Victory James Troisi and Tom Rogic the year before, City put the wheels in motion, merely awaiting FFA approval.

With Spanish superstar David Villa also on his way, rival clubs whinged, FFA panicked and the loan rule was instead changed.

Since the introduction of the “Lampard Rule”, the headline “marquee” visa signings have been Marc Janko, Filip Holosko, Fedrico Piovacarri and Diego Castro as FFA struggles to compete with the Big Bash League’s stardust and free-to-air TV interest wanes. In 2014, channels 9, 7 and 10 were all preparing bids for the A-League.

David Beckham has already shown what star power can do for football in Australia. Source: News Limited

THE BECKHAM LEGACY

THE Designated Player Rule — aka the Beckham Rule — has since delivered almost 100 stars to the MLS, including Thierry Henry, Tim Cahill, Didier Drogba, Andrea Pirlo, David Villa, Steven Gerrard, Kaka and Lampard.

“We added the DPR — and you have a similar rule in Australia (marquee player) — where Beckham came into the league and the world said, ‘Hey, these Yanks are kind of figuring this out’,’’ Garber said.

“Beckham wanted to be a part of it and that led to Thierry Henry coming in and almost 100 designated players have come since ’07 that are providing real quality and global appeal.

“If not for the DPR the MLS isn’t what it is today and might not even be around.’’

Beckham’s deal was about so much more than football. Showbiz aside, an ownership option was inserted in his contract.

This long-term vision meant MLS chiefs were comfortable fending off criticism about the Beckham circus as he twice moved to AC Milan on loan in the off-season to keep his England hopes alive.

In 2018, five years after his retirement, a Beckham-owned Miami team will become the 24th team in the MLS.

“It’s a true legacy (him owning a club), it was part of the original deal,’’ Garber said.

“David’s very smart. He said ‘I’m coming at a time when you guys are fledgling and not yet figured out what league you’ll be and I can help you get to the promised land and if I do so, I want to capitalise on that’ and he negotiated an option at that time to purchase a team and we’re very close to finalising it.’’

MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER TIMELINE

1996: 10-team MLS starts after USA hosted 1994 FIFA World Cup

1999: On verge of bankruptcy, Don Garber appointed commissioner

2002: Tampa Bay Mutiny and Miami Fusion fold as MLS losses surpass $400m

2003: LA Galaxy build first soccer stadium under new strategy

2007: DPR is introduced to enable David Beckham to sign for LA Galaxy

2008: Five more clubs build soccer-specific stadiums

2015: 15 of 20 teams play in new/renovated soccer stadiums

2015: TV deal worth $100m a year, including global coverage

2019: Expansion to 24 teams with Atlanta, Los Angeles, Minnesota and Miami added

2020s: MLS committed to expanding to 28 teams

The A-League hasn’t had a true marquee star Alessandro Del Piero left Sydney FC. Source: Getty Images

BUILDING YOUR OWN HOMES

While the Beckham deal attracted headlines, less glamorous but more important was the base that had been built in the preceding years.

When Garber joined from the NFL in 1999, the MLS was a mess.

It was virtually bankrupt with the 10 clubs owned by the three league owners Phillip Anschutz (six), Lamar Hunt (three) and Robert Kraft, while only one team (Columbus Crew) owned its stadium, with most playing in cavernous NFL stadiums.

“The league was on life support at that point, Phil, Robert and Lamar had to take over all the teams or else it would’ve folded,’’ Garber said.

“Around 2001 when we went through a real soul-searching period and tried to develop a plan, the first thing on that list was building stadiums.

“It wasn’t part of the owners’ vision, similar perhaps to what’s happening in Australia, they thought that MLS teams would be tenants in pre-existing buildings, allowing owners to invest in players and other things, not infrastructure.

“So owners who had already lost (US)$250m now had to invest several billion in building soccer specific stadiums. But they needed to double and triple down on investing.

“If not for that there’s no MLS today — these are spiritual homes for our clubs and our fans believe that it’s the focal point of the local soccer experience.

“Real estate development in a very mature market like the US and Canada is very difficult and expensive. I personally spend a lot of time on soccer stadium development.’’

Steven Gerrard is just the latest star to be lured to Major League Soccer. Source: Getty Images

LA Galaxy’s 27,000-capacity stadium — later to be Beckham’s new Old Trafford — was the first.

Costing $214m (US$150m), its tenants include rugby, boxing, track and field while it’s also the housed the US national team since opening in 2003.

“It wasn’t contemplated that it would be anything more than a home for the Galaxy, but it became the first true cathedral for the sport in America and the federation realised it would be a perfect home for our men’s, women’s and youth national teams,’’ Garber said.

“In just over 15 years, we’ve built 15 soccer stadiums, we’ll soon have 20.’’

In 2016, there are 20 teams and the average MLS franchise is worth AUD$225m (US$157m), but licenses aren’t given out willy-nilly.

Strict entry guidelines apply with no exceptions, not even Beckham, whose endured a two-year search for a suitable stadium sight in Miami.

And unlike in Australia, any expansion or decision-making backlash — such as from New York Red Bulls when New York City applied to join — is drowned out by the greater good under the MLS’s independent (single entity) structure.

“Expansion into really important major markets in a careful, systematic way was also an important component,’’ Garber said.

“We’ve been very careful about managing our own growth and sticking to a very focused strategy and plan and having the courage to make some tough decisions plus having the guts to roll the dice sometimes.

“At that time the league would’ve sold to anyone who’d be willing to handle the losses. Today expansion teams are selling for over (US)$100m and some of our teams are worth significantly more than that.’’

As momentum grows for the A-League to break free from the FFA’s shackles, the independently-run MLS — which also competes in a crowded market — provides perhaps the best road map for the A-League.

Socceroo Tim Cahill enjoyed a great stint with the New York Red Bulls. Source: AFP

MLS STARDUST

The MLS’ top 10 ‘designated players’

1 David Beckham (LA Galaxy)

2 Thierry Henry (New York Red Bulls)

3 Steven Gerrard (LA Galaxy)

4 Kaka (Orlando City)

5 Frank Lampard (New York City)

6 David Villa (New York City)

7 Andrea Pirlo (New York City)

8 Didier Drobga (Montreal Impact)

9 Sebastian Giovinco (Toronto FC)

10 Tim Cahill (New York Red Bulls)