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Birmingham Legion FC officially opened the doors on its training facility at Dunnavant Valley Fields, the club’s new state-of-the art home in the middle of one of Alabama’s soccer hotbeds in north Shelby County. (Reporter Photos/Andrew Simonson)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – After five years, Birmingham Legion FC officially has a facility to call home, and that home is in Shelby County.

Legion FC staff and partners cut the ribbon on the club’s new training facility at Dunnavant Valley Fields on Thursday, Aug. 15, marking the end of a long journey for both the club and the county to construct the facility but the start of a new one as the Legion embrace the future.

“It’s been like we’ve talked about, a labor of love,” Legion FC president and general manager Jay Heaps said. “It’s been a few phases, but for me, when it was finally finished and I could really kind of sit back and see what was built, the collaboration of getting all these different groups together to finish this has been for me an exciting project, but something that I’m really thrilled about what we can talk about is going forward as just a place for us to not just get peak performance for our players, but the future of Legion is going to be from here.”

The 9,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art facility, which was entirely privately funded by the club and is located just off U.S. 280, includes a gym, locker room, coach’s office, team meeting room and physical therapy facilities that are all dedicated and purpose-built for the team.

Legion FC head coach Tommy Soehn, who has served on multiple MLS staffs during his long career, said that the facility exactly what a top professional soccer team needs.

“All-around, I think when you when you think about things you want to have for a team so that you feel like you have something special, from the video room to the training room to the showers to the whole package, it’s what you expect for a good team to have,” Soehn said.

The team’s history with North Shelby County stretches back to its origins when Field 3 at Dunnavant Valley Fields served as the team’s first practice field. From there, it had its eyes on making its permanent home at the complex.

The Legion originally sought out a different building on property, but the county decided to use it for its county services building. That led the club to buy a plot of land on the left side of the complex, and after training at Dunnavant Valley for the past three seasons, their facility is complete.

The years-long process was a true partnership with the county as county officials like Chad Scroggins and Kendall Williams helped make the building a reality.

“We’re just excited to bring this to Shelby County and to really see how it can grow and what future events we might be able to bring to the neighborhood,” Williams said.

Soehn not only sees the facility as a peaceful mountain getaway surrounded by nature but as the next chapter in Dunnavant Valley’s storied soccer legacy.

The fields once hosted multiple nations who played at Legion Field during the 1996 Summer Olympics as well as the U.S. Women’s National Team, and now, the Legion can call North Shelby County its permanent home.

“We’ve said right from the beginning when we talked about this club that we wanted to be successful on the field, but we also have to be successful in the community, and having a place like this in the community of Shelby County, it’s kind of a landmark especially with the stuff going across the street,” Soehn said. “It’s a fantastic facility.”

For him, it’s also the start of a new era for the club as they can now use the new facility to take the next step on the field.

“To be fair, the last couple of years have been tough because we’ve been a bit nomadic and having somewhere to call home like this and the quality of this place, it takes us up a step for sure,” Soehn said.

The facility is not just geared toward the needs of the current team but also will be used as a key tool for the future growth of the team.

Once new bleachers are added to the fields, Dunnavant Valley Fields will host home matches for the club’s two pre-professional teams, women’s side Birmingham Legion WFC and men’s reserve team Birmingham Legion FC II.

Those teams already have their roots in Shelby County as some of the area’s best soccer players have suited up for the Legion after graduating, including Spain Park’s Tatum Ahlemeyer, Briarwood Christian’s Matthias Leib, Chelsea’s Kaleb Bass and Indian Springs’ Norah Roller.

Now, those players will get to suit up close to home while playing next to where the city’s professional team trains.

Heaps believes a facility like this puts the Legion at a unique advantage in the USL Championship, and combined with a successful team on the field which has made the playoffs in each of its first four seasons, it should help the team bring more talent to the Magic City.

“There’s maybe one or two other facilities like this in the whole USL ecosystem,” Heaps said. “So, that for me is critical for us when we want to sign up players. ‘Hey, look, this is where you’re going to spend five, six, seven hours a day before a game, as you’re recovering, this is a great place to do it, and if you get an injury, there’s great professionals around to help you through that.”

Rehabilitation will be a key part of the facility as the club expanded its longstanding partnership with UAB Medicine to create a new physical therapy facility that will serve not just the team but the entire community.

The fully-staffed clinic will allow the public to recover and train alongside Legion FC players, deepening the bond between club and city.

That bond is something that the entire club is looking forward to strengthen as it lays down roots outside of downtown in one of the state’s soccer hotbeds.

“I think it’s a great way to get closer to the community,” Legion FC left wing Dawson McCartney said. “I’m very new to the area. I didn’t even know what Chelsea was until I came out here or Dunnavant Valley, and it’s a great way to get to know the area in different parts of the surrounding areas of Birmingham.”

Soehn knows Shelby County well as he lives with his family in the county and his daughter Addy plays soccer at Spain Park High School. As a result, he is well aware of the area’s rich soccer heritage and hopes that the Legion can keep that legacy alive.

“I think it just adds something for Shelby County,” Soehn said. “It adds something for us because it continues to be a fantastic soccer town and we’re taking the ownness and make sure we can continue to improve that and grow it from the kids all the way up to our women’s team, which we’re really proud of.”

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