MIDFIELDERS

#16 Rida Zouhir

Zouhir has logged 171 total minutes over seven appearances this season with CF Montreal. Born and raised in Montreal, the 20-year-old signed a homegrown contract with the club ahead of the 2021 season.

Over the course of his young career, Zouhir has shown that he can play as a defensive midfielder, as well as in a more advanced position. That versatility has led to him receiving youth call-ups at the international level, having represented the Morocco U-20 in a friendly in 2022 before later playing for the Canada in the 2022 CONCACAF U-20 Championship.

Zouhir returns to the USL Championship after spending the 2023 season out on loan with San Antonio FC. It marked his best professional season to date with eight goals and four assists over 20 starts and 25 total appearances on his way to becoming a finalist for the league’s Young Player of the Year award.

#8 Kobe Hernandez-Foster

LA Galaxy signed Hernandez-Foster when he was 14 years old in 2016. During his time with the U-14 side, the striker recorded 24 goals, earning himself a promotion to the U-16 and later to the Galaxy II. After coming up through the LA Galaxy Academy, Herandez-Foster made his professional debut with the Galaxy II as a late substitute in the 3-1 fall to OKC Energy FC in 2018. During his time with Los Dos, Hernandez-Foster began making his transition from striker to left-back. He recorded three appearances for Galaxy II, completing 90.2 percent of his passes, and winning 66.7 percent of all his tackles. In 2019 Hernandez-Foster won the Academy West Conference Player of the Year.  

Hernandez-Foster popped up on the US national radar, debuting for the USMNT U-17s in April 2018 at age 15. He featured at the CONCACAF U17 Championship in May 2019 as vice-captain, helping the US qualify for the FIFA U-17 World Cup appearing in six of seven matches and scoring the opening goal vs. Barbados. 

German club, VfL Wolfsburg signed Hernandez-Foster in 2020, where he made five appearances for the club’s U19s, and recorded two assists. Hernandez-Foster made his debut for the first team in a pre-season friendly win over Erzgebirge Aue on July 6, 2021. Most recently he played at the Norwegian Eliteserien club, Hamarkameratene (HamKam) where he made 42 appearances.  

#47 Finn Calloway 

Birmingham Legion FC signed midfielder Finn Calloway to a USL Academy contract on January 26, 2024.  

The USL Academy contracts allow players to retain NCAA eligibility while also being eligible to play in the USL Championship and Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup for the club’s First Team. The structure of this contract opens a pathway to gaining valuable experience training with professionals. 

“We’re excited to sign Finn to a USL Academy contract which will prepare him to take the next step in his career, whether that be professionally or collegiately,” said President and General Manager Jay Heaps. “Finn has excellent potential and has acclimated well to training with the first team.” 

The Birmingham native is the fourth local player to sign a USL Academy contract with the Legion. Calloway, 17, played for Mountain Brook High School his freshman and sophomore year, won the state championship in 2022, and was selected First Team All-Metro. Calloway also played for Alabama FC ECNL for 4 years and has been selected First Team All-Southeast Conference (2022) and ECNL National selection game at an ECNL showcase (2022). 

“I’m honored to be joining the guys this preseason,” said Calloway. “I’m excited for the opportunity to possibly play this weekend and I’m ready to do what’s necessary to help the team win.”  

The Calloway signing is a continuation of Legion FC’s investment in the development of young players in Alabama.

#11 Dawson McCartney

Birmingham Legion FC signed Dawson McCartney on February 14, 2024.  

“I’m absolutely thrilled to join this club and represent the city of Birmingham,” said McCartney. “I can’t wait to do everything possible to help this organization compete and win.”

McCartney was selected by the Portland Timbers in the second-round no. 43 overall pick of the 2021 MLS Super Draft. In 2022 the New Jersey native appeared in 22 matches for the Timbers 2, logged in 1,863 minutes, and registered three goals and four assists in MLS NEXT Pro competition.  

“We are extremely excited to have Dawson sign with Legion FC,” said President and General Manager, Jay Heaps. “He is a left-sided player, very technical, and has a great work rate.”  

McCartney racked up several accolades during a stellar collegiate career at Dartmouth starting in 2017 when he was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year, Top Drawer Soccer Freshman Best XI First Team, and All-Ivy Honorable Mention. McCartney finished the season with 17 appearances (14 starts), recorded 2 goals, and tied for a team-high of eight assists. In 2018 McCartney started in all 14 games and recorded three goals, and two assists, and was named to the All-Ivy Second Team. In 2019 during McCartney’s junior year, he made 12 appearances, logged three goals, and led Dartmouth with four assists. McCartney transferred to the University of Notre Dame, where he led the Irish to their first ACC Championship and earned himself ACC Championship MVP honors in 2021. McCartney finished the season with seven goals, five being game-winning goals, and five assists.  

Before Dartmouth, McCartney worked through the ranks of the Philadelphia Union Academy. McCartney was a part of the Philadelphia Union Academy since the beginning of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy era. He recorded over 72 appearances over four seasons between the U16 and U18 teams. McCartney made his USL Championship debut for Bethlehem Steel FC in 2017.  

#28 Miguel Perez

Birmingham Legion FC have acquired midfielder Miguel Perez on a season-long loan from Major League Soccer’s St. Louis City SC. 

“We are excited to have Miguel in Birmingham,” said President and GM Jay Heaps. “He is a young midfielder with great upside and talent who already has MLS experience. “ 

Perez, 18, joins Legion FC in time to make the squad for Saturday’s preseason friendly against Atlanta United.  

“I am honored and humbled to be joining Birmingham Legion FC,” said Perez. “I’m ready to grow as a player and person and do whatever is necessary to help this team compete.” 

“I’m excited to be a part of this community and can’t wait to meet our fans! Let’s go Legion FC!” 

Perez became the second homegrown player in STL City’s history after signing an MLS contract in 2023. Perez made 18 appearances, started in seven, and notched one goal for City.  Perez signed his first professional contract on February 21 and four days later Perez played in City SC’s 3-1 win against Austin FC — making him the first-ever academy graduate to play for the club in MLS regular season. Perez had first career MLS start at the Portland Timbers two matches later. Perez recorded CITY SC’s first goal by a Homegrown in an MLS regular-season game on May 28. Perez also scored in CITY SC’s fourth-round Open Cup match against Chicago on May 10.

Perez joined the St. Louis City SC Academy in its inaugural season in 2021. The midfielder scored the first-ever goal for City Academy in a 4-3 win against Chicago Fire U17s at the beginning of the 2021 MLS NEXT season. Perez later earned a spot on St. Louis City SC inaugural MLS Next Pro roster in January 2022. Perez appeared in 16 matches, making two starts for City 2. Perez was invited to join STL City preseason training camp in January 2023.

#5 Mikey Lopez

Mikey Lopez, in his fourth year with the club during the 2022 season, made 32 appearances for the Three Sparks. He registered 1,260 passes (83.7 passing accuracy), 49 interceptions, 234 duels, and 128 duels won.

Lopez made 27 appearances for the Legion during the 2021 season with a role as both an attacker and defender. The Mexican-American scored two goals and was a tactical presence on the pitch, garnering four assists for the Legion to tie for second most on the squad. His outside-the-box goal against his former club OKC Energy secured Birmingham a draw. On the defensive side, Lopez led the team in tackles (63) and made 17 clearances, 27 interceptions and two blocks. 

Lopez, 28, started every match in 2020 except for one, and finished the year second on the team in clearances (34), second in interceptions (24), second in blocks (7), third in tackles (25), third in minutes (1438), third in passes (742), and added six chances created and one game-tying goal in the final minute at Charlotte on August 12.
The Texas-native was Legion FC’s 2019 Defensive Player of the Year, and he took the field wearing the captain’s armband for most of the season. His versatility was readily on display as he played all across the midfield, as well as at right back. He finished the year tied for fourth on the team in appearances (30), fourth in starts (28), and fourth in minutes played (2,390). He was also first on the team in passes (1256), sixth in goals (3) and shots (17), seventh in chances created (22), sixth in clearances (50), second in interceptions (46) and first in tackles (85).

Lopez spent 2018 with San Antonio FC and the two seasons prior with New York City FC in MLS. Originally, Lopez was the 14th overall pick in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft to Sporting Kansas City. His time in Kansas City included loan moves to USL sides Orlando City SC and Oklahoma City Energy FC in 2014 and 2015.

Before turning pro, Lopez spent two years playing collegiately at the University of North Carolina. While with the Tar Heels, he was an integral part of their 2011 NCAA Championship team and was named the ACC Freshman of the Year. The midfielder made 17 appearances with the United States Under-20 National Team in 2012-13 and was a key part of the U-20 squad that finished second in the 2013 CONCACAF Championship, qualifying for the 2013 U-20 World Cup.

#17 Matthew Corcoran

Legion FC announced the signing of 15-year-old midfielder Matthew Corcoran to his first professional contract on January 14, 2022. TopDrawerSoccer listed Corcoran as one of the best young players in America. In his first season with the club, Corcoran made 11 appearances, 106 passes, and maintained a passing accuracy of 86.8%.

He played with the Dallas Texans before signing for the FC Dallas Academy, where he helped the under-15’s win the FC Bayern Adidas Campus Cup in Munich, Germany in 2019 and the Dallas Cup in 2021. The Texan then made his professional debut in April 2021 with USL League One side North Texas SC.

“I am both honored and excited to be joining Birmingham Legion FC,” said Corcoran. “The club stood out to me as a club that would allow me to grow as a player while competing for championships. I look forward to continuing my growth under Coach Soehn and his staff while soaking up everything I can from the senior players. Players want to do everything they can to bring a title to their supporters, and I will do everything I can to help make that happen.” 

#19 Enzo Martinez

Enzo Martinez was the undisputed MVP for the Three Sparks in 2022 — his debut season with the club. He led in virtually every stat he could, with the most goals (15), shots (68), shots on target (37), assists (eight), tackles (63), tackles won (40) and chances created (70). Additionally, his ability to drop back when needed saw him get the most blocks of any offensive player (five).

Martinez joined Legion FC on January 7, 2022 after six seasons and 161 appearances with the USLC’s Charlotte Independence. In 2021, Martinez led his former club with five assists, was tied for second with seven goals, was third in shots with 32, and was tied for third with 30 chances created.

After earning that All-League nod in 2017, Martinez signed with MLS-side Colorado Rapids for the 2018 season and played 25 times while adding three assists, before returning to Charlotte, where he was named team captain, for the past three years.

The Uruguayan sits just outside of the top 50 in career appearances in the USL Championship (153), is 48th in minutes played (12,004), and is tied for 21st in regular season goals (44) and tied for 11th in regular season assists (30). He is one of just three players in USLC history to have bagged 40+ goals and 30+ assists in the regular season. 

“I’m really excited for this opportunity to get to know new teammates and staff and to become a part of this community,” said Martinez. “But most importantly, the reason why Birmingham became the number one choice for me is because I truly believe that this team can win a championship. At this point in my career, the only thing I want is to win a championship, and I truly believe I have a chance to do so with Birmingham.”

Martinez’s first stint in Major League Soccer came with Real Salt Lake when the club drafted him 17th overall in the 2012 SuperDraft. He spent 2013 and 2014 with NASL outfit Carolina RailHawks, where he won the 2013 NASL Supporters Cup.

Before turning pro, Martinez was a standout player at the University of North Carolina, where he won the 2011 National Championship playing alongside current Legion FC midfielder Mikey Lopez. It is also no exaggeration to call Martinez one of the greatest high school soccer players of all time, after ESPN named him the ESPN Rise High School Boys Soccer Player of the Decade in 2009.

While in high school, he was named South Carolina Player of the Year four years in a row, won three state championships and a national title while scoring 182 goals at Northwestern High School in Rock Hill, SC, and added a national title with his club team, Discoveries SC.