BIRMINGHAM LEGIon ready to kick off 2024 home schedule
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - April 6 2024
With the first three matches on the road for Birmingham Legion FC, starting the season on a good note wasn’t going to be easy. Legion head coach Tommy Soehn was certain of that.
The Legion did get a season opening win over the Phoenix Rising FC but followed with losses to Hartford Athletic and Louisville City FC. After three matches, Legion is 10th in the USL Championship Eastern Conference.
There is a bright side and it comes on Sunday when Legion returns to Protective Stadium for the first time this season. The home opener is against visiting Loudon United FC and will kick off at 4 p.m.
“It’s tough because you’re really playing everybody’s home opener,” Soehn said. “The home opener always has a little extra juice to it for the home team. So, it’s obviously difficult. It’s a hard task. I don’t think we were up for it. It’s going to be nice to get some home cooking this weekend. Hopefully it will get us back to where we need to be.”
Soehn said his team made changes after the back-to-back losses, which include a 5-0 setback at Louisville.
“I knew after watching, at least the Hartford game, whether it was conditions or what, I didn’t get the full effort from the guys,” Soehn said. “I couldn’t figure out if it was systematic or what. The last game, against Louisville, I saw some flaws in our system that we have to change accordingly. You know, sometimes the system doesn’t fit the personnel you have. We had to make an adjustment. Hopefully that adjustment, at least, fits our personnel better.”
Actually, the early season has included personnel adjustments with season-ending injuries to a pair of starters and forward Mohamed Buya Turay has been out with a muscle tear since playing in the opener.
“That’s the stuff you can’t expect,” Soehn said. “When it happens, it throws you a curveball and you have to adapt to that. That’s been difficult and then we lost Mo. He won’t be back for a while. You take three starters out of the group and everything changes.”
Soehn and his team are settling in for a long season. Three games don’t determine where this team is headed.
“I think that comes with experience,” Soehn said. “You’ll never enjoy the lows but you also have to weather those and get through that. Good or bad, it’s not always going to be like that. Experience gets you through those moments and also the experience of going through rough times, you go back and think what we can change.”
Again, a key change in Sunday’s game is location. Soehn said his team is excited to get back in front of their fans, who always make a difference.
“It’s home cooking,” Soehn said. “It’s always difficult playing on the road. Tough travel, the other team has to travel. The excitement of playing in front of your fans is big. We always call them the 12th man, well, it’s real.”