Daniel Johnson has traveled the world as an elite soccer player, but he wholeheartedly believes that Birmingham is poised for big things in the sport.

Johnson, a 23-year-old midfielder for Birmingham Legion FC, grew up in suburbran Atlanta and moved to England when he was 13 to train at a soccer academy affiliated with the Premier League club West Ham United. He’s played for national teams and was drafted 11th overall in 2017 to the Chicago Fire of the MLS.

Now he’s in the Magic City and is confident in the quality of the team and the community excitement for the newest expansion member of the United Soccer League.

“Our players have been handpicked and chosen for this team and opportunity,” he said. “There’s quality from our most experienced players down to our rookies. Why put a team together if we’re not going to have the goal of making the playoffs and making a run to a championship?”

“There’s an incredible fan base here, and it’s much more than I expected,” Johnson added. “I’ve talked to fans and their passion for soccer and their understanding of the game has been such a pleasant surprise. You have a stereotype that this is just a football state, but there’s so much more.”

That passion for soccer provides Johnson with a special connection to those local fans, because it’s something he has experienced since a young age.

Johnson first got involved with the game as a young boy in Duluth, Georgia, when his mother enrolled him and his three brothers in every sport imaginable “really just to keep us busy.”

When he first got on the soccer pitch, he knew he was meant to be there.

“It came the first time I was on the field,” Johnson said, “and from early on I had some really good coaches who were passionate about it and knew how to make a young kid fall in love with the game.”

He connected with the game on a level that true aficionados come to realize from the stands as well.

It’s a sport, he said, that is exciting and meaningful during every minute of a game and every spot on the field.

“Soccer is so nuanced. There’s this beauty that comes out of soccer that doesn’t have anything to do with scoring a goal, or scoring a touchdown or making a basket,” he said. “The satisfaction comes from the passage of play, and that’s really unique.”

He explained that, in other sports, there are only certain aspects of or moments in a game that get people up out of their seats.

“There’s something to be appreciated at all times in soccer,” he said. “Some people may see it as boring because it’s low scoring, but I think it’s the other way around.”

Johnson gained such a strong appreciation for the game partly from his time spent in England during his teenage years. After playing with high-level teams in the Atlanta area and participating in national camps, the opportunity arose to train in England and then to move there.

“Being 13 years-old and hearing that you get to play soccer every day of your life, I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “My parents were maybe a little worried about it, but they let me go and it was an incredible experience.”

In England he learned more about soccer and himself.

“I became more passionate about the game and improved as a player so fast,” he said. “I learned a ton about myself and what it takes to get to the next level. And I was on my own, so I had to mature quickly.”

“In a lot of ways, England became like home to me,” he said.

Johnson came back to the United States and played collegiately at Maryland and Louisville. He played in 23 matches for Maryland, and scored seven goals and added five assists in 41 games after transferring to Louisville.

He’s spent the last two seasons with the Chicago Fire after being drafted in the MLS Superdraft.

Legion FC President and General Manager Jay Heaps said Johnson had been on the team’s radar because of his experience and ability.

“Daniel is a player that we scouted prior to the 2017 draft and followed closely during his time in the MLS,” Heaps said. “He offers us a creative and versatile attacking option.”

Johnson and Legion FC sit at 2-2 during their inaugural season and are coming off two impressive wins against the defending USL champions Louicreative and versatilesville City FC and the previously-undefeated St. Louis FC.

The team plays this Saturday against the Swope Park Rangers and are looking to give its home fans their first goal and win in Birmingham.

Legion FC started its season with two games at home, losses to Bethlehem Steel and Ottawa Fury.

Johnson said he believes the team is ready to move up to that next step.

“We all said when the season started that we wished we had another week of preseason,” he said. “I came in the week before, several other guys came in at the last minute. We had a foundation that we had to establish and needed to find our identity.

“We felt like we were the better team in our first two games despite losing, and then at our first away game we really fought together and played for each other,” Johnson said. “Our locker room has gotten good, we have a really great group.”

Johnson said that the players, as well as the coaching staff and management of the team, look at Legion FC as more than an expansion team. The team isn’t a “startup,” he said.

“It’s made clear from our coaching staff that, expansion team or not, our goal is to be in the playoffs,” he said. “If you’re a professional team, it’s not to just come to a new city and have fun. It’s to make a run for a championship.”

Johnson said Saturday’s game is just another step toward that ultimate goal.

The team’s first goal, he said, was to grow as a team. Then it was to get the first win in Legion history. Now it’s to start putting winning streaks together.

And ultimately, he said, it’s to have an identity that makes opposing teams look at you differently.

“We don’t want teams to come into BBVA Compass Field and think they’re just gonna walk out with a win because we’re a new team or we aren’t experienced,” he said. “If they look at our roster, they’re playing against people with hundreds of games in the MLS or in the USL. They’ll be forced to respect us.”