After several recent reports and rumors about Birmingham becoming a USL expansion city, the whispers became reality on Tuesday afternoon.

The Birmingham City Council broke the news first on Facebook, and then AL.com tweeted about an official meeting at Good People Brewery, so people knew what was coming. Good People is where the AO Birmingham Chapter meets, and the event drew a huge crowd… thanks in part to the Magic City Brigade.

For those of you who don’t know, Birmingham already has a soccer team, the Birmingham Hammers of NPSL, and a supporters group, the Magic City Brigade. The team held their matches at Sicard Hollow, just outside downtown, and they have one of the coolest names, kits, and crests in the United States.

Many of the fans of the Hammers were hoping that the Hammers brand would continued to be used in the new USL team, but not much was said about the new team yet. We do know the team will start play in 2019, and the team will launch a PDL team in 2018, very similar to Nashville’s approach this year and next.

According to the announcement…

“Birmingham club owners consist of Jeff Logan, co-owner of the Birmingham Barons baseball team; James Outland, founding and managing partner of New Capital Partners; and Lee Styslinger, III, chairman and chief executive officer of Altec, Inc. — all local businessmen and sports enthusiasts who collectively agreed that a professional soccer team was needed to continue and expand the city’s growth trend.”

Morgan Copes, co-founder of the Birmingham Hammers, was also recently hired as the vice president of USL Birmingham. He will serve as the team’s “main point of contact” for the PDL and USL clubs.

One thing that remains a mystery is where the team will play. The league, like MLS above it, wants teams to play in a “soccer specific stadium” and that’s a rare thing in the South. Sicard Hollow, where the current NPSL team is located, only holds around 1,000, but it does have standing room to hold more. That figure does not reach USSF D2 requirements.

Legion Stadium (which holds 71,594) is located just outside of downtown but has already been marked off the list of possible stadiums. UAB built a new soccer complex within the last year and has remained private to other clubs, but I think it would be a perfect downtown location.

Earlier this summer, the Hammers played a match at Samford University Soccer Complex in Homewood, AL against Chivas de Guadalajara U23. That game drew roughly 800–1000 people. Samford Soccer Complex has been thrown out there as another possible stadium, even though it is not the ideal location, 15 minutes outside of downtown. Another problem there is that the stadium only holds 1,200, which doesn't meet the requirements either.

Then you have Regions Field, where the Birmingham Barons play. Even though it is a baseball stadium, it does check off many of the boxes needed. Downtown location, check. Meets USSF D2 sitting requirements, check. Great facility, check. And may I add that it is right across the street from Good People Brewery. Regions Field holds 8,500. Other USL sides share MiLB stadiums, so this could be the solution.

Last month, the USL announced that they would be forming a Central Conference to help eliminate travel cost and enrich regional rivalries. No further word has come out yet on what teams will fill each conference, or how the playoff structure will look like, or when this will take place.

The USL has named several other teams that will be joining its already full list of expansion sides in the next few years: Nashville, Las Vegas, Fresno, Austin, and Birmingham should all be joining before 2020. Memphis rumors have recently been buzzing, and Baltimore might be joining the league soon too. How big will this league get?

We’ll keep you posted of course here at Soccer ‘n’ Sweet Tea: looking forward to watching our Carolina sides, the Battery and Independence, create rivalries with more Southern soccer clubs.