Birmingham Legion misses home playoff game but still advances to next round
The Birmingham Legion is headed to Tampa to play the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the USL Championship Playoffs Eastern Conference Semifinal. (contributed)
Tommy Soehn was pleased and a little disappointed as his Birmingham Legion soccer team practiced Monday on the outfield grass of a baseball field beyond the Hoover Met.
The Legion coach was pleased that the season continues for his third-year squad, but he and his club are disappointed they didn’t get to host a home playoff game Sunday, Nov. 7. The USL Championship Playoffs Eastern Conference Quarterfinal match between Birmingham Legion FC and Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC was canceled.
The game was to have been played at PNC Field, formerly BBVA Field, in Birmingham. The cancellation came after multiple people from the Riverhounds organization tested positive for COVID-19. Those people were within the team’s bubble of employees who are tested regularly, including players, coaches, trainer, equipment manager and team operations coordinator.
Birmingham Legion looking forward to playoffs from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
Birmingham now advances to the Eastern Conference Semifinals, where it will take on the Tampa Bay Rowdies at 6 p.m. Central this Saturday. The Rowdies blitzed FC Tulsa 6-2 last Saturday.
“Our whole goal this year was to get that home playoff game,” Soehn said after practice. “Obviously, that’s in the past now and we’ve moved on. Now our focus is really on Tampa and making sure our mentality’s right on the road.”
Birmingham finished second in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference with an 18-8-6 record. The Legion was 10-4-2 at home and 8-4-4 on the road.
Tampa Bay won the Atlantic Division with a 23-7-2 record.
“We’ve been a really good road team this year,” Soehn said. “Tampa gives different challenges and we haven’t played them this year. Now it’s up to us to come up with a game plan and make sure we know what their strengths are but also know how we can break them down.”
A home playoff game could still happen for Birmingham.
- If Legion FC wins the second-round matchup in Tampa, and any team from the opposite side of the bracket other than Louisville City FC advances to the conference finals, Legion FC will host that game at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 21.
- If Legion FC wins the conference quarterfinal at Tampa Bay this week and wins the conference final at Louisville City FC, Birmingham would host the USL Championship Final on Sunday, Nov. 28 at 7:30 p.m., if anyone from the Western Conference other than Phoenix Rising FC and/or El Paso Locomotive advances to the final round.
All tickets that were purchased for the Birmingham-Pittsburgh contest will be honored if Legion FC hosts a 2021 USL Championship playoff game. If the team does not play another home game at PNC Field in 2021, all tickets purchased for the Birmingham-Pittsburgh game will be refunded.
