Matchday Info:
Tampa Bay Rowdies vs Birmingham Legion FC
Saturday, April 1, 7:30 p.m. ET
Al Lang Stadium, St. Petersburg, FL
Tickets: Fans can purchase tickets for the match by clicking here or at the stadium box office beginning at 4 p.m. on matchday.
Pregame Fan Zone: Stop by the new Fan Zone outside of Gate 2 from 5:30-7:30. The Fan Zone features features a DJ, face painters for young fans, interactive soccer games for fans of all ages, Kona Ice shaved ice truck, and more activities.
Matchday Special: $8 Buy One, Get One Free Bud Light beer
Watch: Stream the Match on ESPN+
The Tampa Bay Rowdies are back at Al Lang Stadium this Saturday after two weeks away from home. Still in search of their first win of the campaign, the Rowdies face off against the team currently at the top of the Eastern Conference standings, Birmingham Legion FC.
This Saturday’s match is the first of four home matches the Rowdies are set to play over the next two weeks. After Birmingham, the Rowdies take on Nona FC in the U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday, April 4, followed by league matches against Miami FC on Saturday, April 8 and the Charleston Battery on Wednesday April 12.
The busy stretch may be just what the Rowdies need to find their stride, according to Head Coach Neill Collins.
“A lot of our players need games,” said Collins. “It’s a period of time we’re looking forward to. There’s a lot of guys that are only going to get better by getting exposure to games. The most important game first of all is Saturday. The focus is on that, but its great to know we’ve got a game Tuesday in the Open Cup, followed by two important league games.”
Tampa Bay enters this weekend’s matchup off the back a rare 3-0 defeat at the hands of Charleston. Prior last Saturday, the Rowdies had not dropped a match by three goals since May 4 of 2019 in a 3-0 loss to Penn FC.
“When we’ve had tough times, which we have had, we’ve always regrouped and we’ve always come in with a desire to put it right,” said Collins. “We’ve always kept working really hard. Whenever we’ve faced adversity, we’ve always just got to work. There’s only one real place to sort it, and that’s on the training field. Then it’s about going into the game and putting that hard work to good use. Birmingham will be no different on this occasion.”
The Rowdies battled Birmingham to two 1-1 draws in 2022. Matchups between the two sides have a habit of being tight affairs. In seven matchups over the years, three have finished in a stalemate and two have been decided by just one goal.
“Birmingham are maybe where we were the last two or three years in terms of consistency of their squad,” said Collins. “I look at their back two, Alex Crognale and Phanuel Kavita, and it feels as if they’ve been playing there longer than I’ve been in charge here. That’s a big strength when you have two center backs who are pretty much the first names on the team sheet. Then you add Anderson Asiedu in midfield, Enzo Martinez as a number 10, and Neco Brett is back. There’s a lot of consistency and they’ve signed good new players, so they’ll come in full of confidence. We’ve always had some good games against Birmingham, so this is going to be no different on Saturday.”
Injury Report
OUT: Leo Fernandes (Achilles/Out for Season)
