This is an opinion column.
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Buzz is growing for a new downtown soccer stadium for Birmingham Legion FC.
Alabama’s plucky soccer club begins its seventh season on Saturday with a home game at 7 p.m. at Protective Stadium. Legion missed the playoffs in 2024, but the club revamped its roster in the offseason with a lineup that a new investor calls “ambitious.”
We’ll see, but the idea of Legion moving out of Protective Stadium is a good one. That’s nothing against Protective, which is a great place for a football game, but the stadium is too big for soccer.
The club’s latest investor is Chris Richards, the Birmingham-area soccer star who plays for the U.S. Men’s National Team and Premiership club Crystal Palace FC. I love the idea of Birmingham’s professional sports stars investing in their hometown club. Perhaps Richards can recruit Tanner Tessmann (now playing midfield for Lyon in France) and guys like Marlon Humphrey, Jameis Winston and Eric Bledsoe.
Richards is in the middle of his season over in south London, but took the time to meet with reporters via Zoom call earlier this week. Richards plays centerback for the national team and right back for Palace. He’s an emerging superstar for the national team, and I predict that he’ll be the team’s permanent captain for the 2026 World Cup.
Christian Pulisic is an excellent player, but Richards is the team’s natural leader. He’s physical, fearless and charming, and a Black soccer player from Birmingham, Alabama, leading the U.S. against the world is inspiring stuff.
Legion should do something fun and let Richards design the soccer jerseys for his hometown club. During his interview, Richards suggested that Legion should move out of Protective. I couldn’t agree more, and I know the perfect place for a new stadium.
The Powell Avenue Steam Plant is for sale for $10 million. Legion’s ownership group should invest in the property, extend Railroad Park and put a stadium on the site. The stadium doesn’t have to be any bigger than 15,000 seats.
An enterprising architect could incorporate the iconic steam plant into the design of the venue and make it one of the most unique stadiums in the country. Birmingham needs a new spark, and Legion FC can be a champion of the city’s future.
Legion plays in the USL Championship. The USL is currently a peg below Major League Soccer, but that is about to change. The USL announced in February that it plans to launch Division One in 2027. The league will rival MLS according to the sanctioning standards of professional soccer in the United States.
MLS and USL will be separate — think the NFL and the old AFL — but the USL will have an advantage. USL Division One would feature promotion and relegation just like the pro leagues in Europe.
Investors like Richards see that as an advantage for the USL. With Captain America now backing his hometown club, the growth potential for Legion FC is already reaching a new level.
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Joseph Goodman is the lead sports columnist for the Alabama Media Group, and author of the book “We Want Bama: A Season of Hope and the Making of Nick Saban’s Ultimate Team.”