Legion FC Seeks Breakthrough Against Surging Charleston

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The grind continues for Birmingham Legion FC as it reaches the midway point of the USL Championship still in search of a magical run of results in the Magic City. Set to play its seventh match over the last 30 days, the Three Sparks are presented with an opportunity on Wednesday to find a spark as it welcomes an in-form Charleston Battery side to Protective Stadium.

“Any time you face Charleston, it’s looked at as a chance to make a statement, because they are one of the top teams,” said Legion FC coach Mark Briggs. “We’ve got to focus on one game at a time and make sure that progress is being made.”

Despite coming up short in penalty kicks at Indy Eleven in the USL Jagermeister Cup just a few days ago, Briggs noted afterwards that he saw that progress from the squad.

While it may have taken a stoppage time free kick effort from Preston Tabort Etaka to force penalties, Legion FC were clearly the ones making its mark on the pitch throughout the course of the match by holding the overwhelming majority of possession while outshooting its opponents 22-9.

“We performed at a level that we want to perform at, but we still didn’t win,” explained Briggs. “We’ve got to take that quality that we showed, that confidence and freedom that we showed and do it out here at our stadium.”

The most recent meeting with Indy was the second time in June that Birmingham created more chances and had the higher expected goals metric, but was unable to secure victory. Finding a positive end product is something that continues to be a work in progress for a squad that is in the bottom half of the USL-C with a 14% conversion rate, but the feeling is that goals are near as the confidence in the system continues to grow.

“If I knew the answer, I’d be a millionaire,” laughed midfielder Enzo Martinez when asked what is missing in the final portion of his club’s attack. “A lot of the game has to do with rhythm and when you’re struggling to score, they seem hard to come by. But once you start converting those chances, everything starts coming easier, so we’re just continuing to work towards opening up the floodgates.”

Birmingham will likely need a multi-goal performance to claim three points against Wednesday’s opponent. Not only does Charleston approach the Magic City unbeaten in its last five games, but also comes in having won its last five meetings with Legion FC.

The offseason addition of Cal Jennings to its attacking front has paid huge dividends for the Battery with the prolific USL-C striker tied for the lead league with 11 goals this season. That has played a big part in the club currently boasting 32 total goals in 2025 which leads Louisville City FC by four for tops in the league.

“They make a lot of runs with their attackers so it’s about keeping track of them and putting a body on them,” defender AJ Paterson said. “They are one of the best teams in the league, they have great players that are in great form. Our focus is on us and performing our gameplan to do what we need to do to get three points.”

Freshness could play a key role in what ultimately decides the match with both teams coming off of midweek road outings that needed penalties to decide the outcome. For Birmingham, it will be the second time in three weeks that it takes on the two-matches-in-four-days gauntlet.

After dropping the back half the last time it went through, the team believes it is better prepared this time around.

“It’s tricky because you’re prepping for two different systems in four days,” said Martinez. “That plays such a big part and when you have a short turnaround it’s difficult to button up those little details. But we get paid to win games and that’s the most important thing and everything you do comes down to those 90 minutes.”

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