September 20, 2024 – United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Birmingham Legion FC News Release
Birmingham Legion FC races to the ball
(Birmingham Legion FC)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – It was a little bit of good and a little bit of bad last week for Birmingham Legion FC, who snapped a three-match skid on September 11 with a solid 2-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rowdies, but then followed that up by letting a halftime lead slip away in a 4-2 defeat at Loudoun United FC three days later. With the duality of results, The Three Sparks experienced a rare holding pattern of sorts in a hectic postseason race.
Despite its most recent loss, results elsewhere in the USL Championship meant that Birmingham wasn’t penalized too much in the USL Championship Eastern Conference standings. However, this Sunday’s home matchup pits Legion FC against the only team throughout the entire league that has been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention in Miami FC, so the objective is clear: it’s three points or bust.
“We control our own destiny right now,” said Legion FC coach Tom Soehn. “We need to take care of our business and that’s really all we can focus on.”
MATCH INFO
Birmingham Legion FC (11W-12L-5D; 38PTS) vs Miami FC (3W-23L-2D; 11PTS)
USL Championship | Matchday 29
Sunday, September 22 | 4:00 p.m. CT
Protective Stadium | Birmingham, AL
Watch: WABM My68 (Birmingham)
Stream: ESPN+
Scheduled as the final kick-off for match week 29, the good news for Soehn and company is that there shouldn’t be much of a distraction in the way of scoreboard watching for the club, who currently sit in sixth place on 38 points with six matches in the 2024 regular season remaining.
A potential first round playoff match at Protective Stadium is still very much a possibility with Legion FC four points behind fourth place Detroit City FC. But a host of teams are also breathing down the side’s neck with both Rhode Island FC and Loudoun a mere point behind Birmingham to round out the top eight, while Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC is below the cutline in ninth place at 35 points.
So as has often been the case for the past month, what the order of teams in the table looks like right now could be drastically different come Sunday’s final whistle.
“Everything is really close and everyone has a chance,” midfielder Enzo Martinez said. “The focus right now is to win as many games as we can so that we can host in the playoffs. It’s still there within our reach.”
Pushing for the playoffs is nothing new to a veteran like Martinez…