Birmingham Legion FC

Birmingham Legion FC

Full name	Birmingham Legion FC
Founded	August 9, 2017;7 years ago (2017-08-09)
Stadium	Protective Stadium
Capacity	47,100
Owners	Jack Bryant Neilinho Colesco John Harbert Jeff Logan James Outland Jim Rein Lee Styslinger III Enrique Cerezo
President and general manager	Jay Heaps
Head coach	Tom Soehn
League	USL Championship
2022	4th, Eastern Conference Playoffs: Conference quarterfinals
Website	bhmlegion.com
Home colors Away colors
Current season

Birmingham Legion FC is an American professional soccer club based in Birmingham, Alabama, that competes in the USL Championship, the second division of American soccer. The team was established in August 2013 and played under the name Birmingham Hammers until 2018 and began their first professional season as Legion FC on March 10, 2019. As of March 5th 2023 Spanish filmmaker Enrique Cerezo has maintained a 15% ownership share in the club.In a shock move on 7th November 2024 Anglo-Brazilian businessman Neilinho Colesco Bought a 1% shair in the club in honor of his late wife a Birmingham Alabama native.

History

On August 9, 2017, the United Soccer League (now known as USL Championship), the Division II sanctioned league by the United States Soccer Federation, granted a team for Birmingham to begin play in the 2019 season. ^[1] On January 17, 2018, the team name was revealed as Birmingham Legion FC, a reference to the historic Legion Field that opened in 1927. However, the team instead played at BBVA Field, the home of the UAB Blazers soccer program. ^[2]

Oak Mountain High School graduate and Real Monarchs' star forward Chandler Hoffman signed on as the team's first player in July 2018. ^[3] In August the team announced that Tom Soehn would be the first head coach of Birmingham Legion FC. ^[4]

Their first professional game resulted in a 2–0 defeat against Bethlehem Steel FC on March 10, 2019. ^[5]

During the 2023 U.S. Open Cup, Birmingham Legion FC defeated a Major League Soccer (MLS) side for the first time, with a 1-0 win over Charlotte FC in the round of 16. The game was played at Protective Stadium before a record home crowd of 12,722. ^[6] Legion FC's U.S. Open Cup run was cut short by MLS team Inter Miami CF after a 0-1 loss at Protective Stadium in the quarter-final of the U.S. Open Cup, setting yet another record attendance of 18,418 spectators. ^[7]

Stadium

Legion FC played its home matches at Protective Stadium, which also serves as the Blazers' home field, which began in the 2021-22 season.

On March 15, 2021, Legion FC was forced to move its scheduled match against rival Memphis 901 to historic Legion Field because of unplayable pitch conditions at PNC Field, caused by heavy rains in the previous days. The match, dubbed "Legion at Legion," drew a club-record crowd of 10,177, which the club said was also the largest crowd ever to attend a professional soccer match in Alabama. ^[8] (Legion Field's largest soccer crowd ever was a 1996 Summer Olympics match between the United States and Argentina, which also set the stadium's all-time attendance record with 83,810 fans.) Inclement weather also forced delays or cancellations in other matches.

In November 2021, the club and the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees agreed to terminate Legion FC's eight-year lease early. No reason was announced through official channels. ^[9] On December 7, 2021, the club announced the Legion would play their home games at Protective Stadium starting with their 2022 season. ^{[10] [11]}

Club culture

Rivalries

Birmingham competes in the Southern Harm derby against rivals Memphis 901. ^[12]

Sponsorship

Period	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
2019–2021	Nike	Red Diamond [13]
2022–2023		Coca-Cola BODYARMOR
2024–present	Hummel [14]

Players and staff

Roster

As of October 28, 2024 ^[15]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   USA Matt Van Oekel 3 DF   COD Phanuel Kavita 4 DF   USA Ramiz Hamouda 5 MF   USA Mikey Lopez 7 FW   NGA Diba Nwegbo 8 MF   USA Kobe Hernandez-Foster 9 FW   VEN Darwin Matheus 10 FW   GHA Prosper Kasim 11 MF   USA Dawson McCartney 13 DF   USA Jake Rufe 14 DF   USA Derek Dodson (on loan from Minnesota United) 15 FW   CAN Tyler Pasher 16 MF   CAN Rida Zouhir (on loan from CF Montréal)

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 MF   USA Matthew Corcoran 18 GK   USA Trevor Spangenberg 19 MF   URU Enzo Martínez 20 DF   GRN A. J. Paterson 21 DF   USA Alex Crognale 23 FW   CMR Tabort Etaka Preston 28 MF   USA Miguel Perez (on loan from St. Louis City) 29 FW   BRA Stefano Pinho 33 DF   GHA Moses Mensah 47 MF   USA Finn Calloway [A] 75 GK   USA Owen Jack 77 FW   SLE Mohamed Buya Turay

1. ^
   USL Academy Contract

Team management

Front office
Owners	Jack Bryant Billy Harbert John Harbert Jeff Logan James Outland Jim Rein Lee Styslinger III
President and general manager	Jay Heaps
Vice president of operations	Jason Coleman
Director of ticketing	Cason Gooch
Coaching staff
Head coach	Tom Soehn
Assistant coach	Eric Avila
Assistant coach	Braeden Cloutier

Last updated: March 25, 2019
Source:

Team records

Year-by-year

As of July 22, 2023

Season	USL Championship								Play-offs	U.S. Open Cup	Top scorer 1		Head Coach	Avg. attendance
	P	W	L	D	GF	GA	Pts	Pos			Player	Goals
2019	34	12	15	7	35	51	43	10th, Eastern	Conference quarterfinals	3rd Round	J.J. Williams	8	Tom Soehn	4,541
2020	16	7	5	4	29	19	28	2nd, Group G	Conference quarterfinals	Canceled	Neco Brett	9		1,250
2021	32	18	8	6	51	31	61	2nd, Central	Conference semifinals	Canceled	Neco Brett	18		4,389
2022	34	17	10	7	56	37	58	4th, Eastern	Conference quarterfinals	3rd Round	Enzo Martínez	15		5,405
2023	34	14	16	4	44	53	46	7th, Eastern	Conference semifinals	Quarter Final	Neco Brett	11		5,091

^ 1. Top scorer includes statistics from league matches only.

Head coaches

• Includes USLC regular season, USLC playoffs, U.S. Open Cup. Excludes friendlies.

Coach	Nationality	Start	End	Games	Win	Loss	Draw	Win %
Tom Soehn	United States	August 16, 2018	present	167	77	61	29	046.11

References

1. "USL Officially Awards Franchise to Birmingham". USL. August 9, 2017. Archived from the original on January 18, 2018. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
2. "Birmingham Legion FC Branding Unveiled". United Soccer League. January 17, 2018. Archived from the original on January 18, 2018. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
3. Inabinett, Mark (July 30, 2018). "Chandler Hoffman coming home as Birmingham Legion FC's first player". The Birmingham News. Archived from the original on July 31, 2018. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
4. Stephenson, Greg (August 16, 2018). "Birmingham Legion FC hires Tom Soehn as head coach". The Birmingham News. Archived from the original on March 14, 2024. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
5. Legion FC Communications Team (March 10, 2019). "Sellout crowd sees Legion FC fall in inaugural season home opener". BHMLegion.com. Birmingham Legion FC. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
6. Legion FC Communications Team (May 24, 2023). "Legion FC Triumphs 1-0 over MLS Club Charlotte FC and Makes Alabama Sports History". BHMLegion.com. Birmingham Legion FC. Archived from the original on May 25, 2023. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
7. jjgood (June 7, 2023). "Birmingham Legion FC's Open Cup Run Comes to an End in Dramatic 1-0 Loss Against Inter Miami". BHMLegion.com. Birmingham Legion FC. Archived from the original on June 9, 2023. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
8. "Legion FC Defeats Memphis in Front of Record Crowd of 10,177 at Historic Legion Field". Birmingham Legion FC (via OurSportsCentral). May 15, 2021. Archived from the original on November 29, 2021. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
9. Seale, Michael (November 5, 2021). "Legion FC And UAB End Stadium Lease Agreement". Patch Birmingham. Archived from the original on February 10, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
10. Goodman, Joe (November 5, 2021). "'Overrated' Birmingham Legion FC ready for first home playoff game". Birmingham News/al.com. Archived from the original on February 10, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
11. Turrentine, Caleb (December 7, 2021). "Legion officially name Protective Stadium as home field for 2022". ABC 33/40. Archived from the original on December 7, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
12. "A brief introduction to Birmingham vs. Memphis, AKA Southern Harm". uslchampionship.com. June 7, 2022. Archived from the original on June 9, 2022. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
13. Patchen, Tyler (December 17, 2018). "Legion FC unveils new jersey and home-opener opponent". The Birmingham Business Journal. Archived from the original on September 19, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
14. "Birmingham Legion FC Announces Multi-Year Partnership with hummel". Archived from the original on January 23, 2024. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
15. "Roster Archive". Archived from the original on June 9, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2023.

External links

• Official website