Monterey Bay Travels to Birmingham to Face Legion FC in Fixture with Playoff Implications Abound
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Saturday, October 7, 2023) – Monterey Bay F.C. (11-13-8, 41 points) travels East to Birmingham for a critical 2:00 p.m. PT kickoff on Sunday afternoon against Legion FC (13-15-4, 43 points) at Protective Stadium in Week 31 of the 2023 USL Championship regular season. Live streaming of the match will be available on ESPN+ or listen live on SiriusXM FC Channel 157.
Monterey Bay enters its first-ever meeting with Eastern Conference side Birmingham Legion FC in dire need of points to extend its sophomore campaign as regular season play nears its end. Following the most recent midweek results, the Crisp-and-Kelp’s aspirations of making the playoffs remain solely in their control with two matches left to play. Securing all six available points would guarantee Monterey Bay the eighth and final playoff spot out West and the first playoff appearance in the short history of the Club. Should the Union fall short of three points in Birmingham on Sunday afternoon, they would suddenly default to needing some help – of the dropped-points variety – from fellow Western Conference playoff-aspirants El Paso, Oakland, New Mexico and Rio Grande Valley.
On the other hand, Birmingham currently sits in seventh place in the Eastern Conference table and needs just one point or a Detroit City FC loss or draw to clinch a playoff spot of their own. Heading on the road to third place Charleston for the final match of the season, Birmingham will want to get that point at home against the Union on Sunday. Overall, Monterey Bay boasts a 5-4-2 record against Eastern Conference opponents this season and a 9-6-4 record going back to last season, including an even 4-4-1 record against the East away from home.
Match Information
Birmingham Legion FC vs. Monterey Bay F.C.
Protective Stadium; Birmingham, Alabama
Sunday, October 8, 2023; 2:00 p.m. PT
SportsClubStats Playoff Predictor (36.4%)
Chance of playoffs with a WIN: 74.5%
Chance of playoffs with a DRAW: 31.9%
Chance of playoffs with a LOSS: 18.4%
Weekend Fixtures to Watch
Memphis vs El Paso – Saturday, 5:00 p.m. PT
→ Best outcome: Memphis win
Rio Grande Valley vs Sacramento – Saturday, 5:00 p.m. PT
→ Best outcome: Sacramento win
San Diego vs Oakland – Saturday, 7:00 p.m. PT
→ Best outcome: San Diego win
Phoenix vs New Mexico – Saturday, 7:30 p.m. PT
→ Best outcome: Phoenix win
Access BHMvMB Match Notes
The Adobe PDF version of the 2023 Match Guide in advance of Sunday’s contest between Monterey Bay F.C. and Birmingham Legion FC can be found here. Media members looking to receive the document as an attachment or have further questions are asked to please contact Steven Vargo in MBFC Communications via email at steven@montereybayfc.com.
2023 Records
Birmingham Legion FC (13-15-4, 43 pts, 7th East); Monterey Bay F.C. (11-13-8, 41 pts, 9th West)
