Former New England Revolution coach Jay Heaps will be named the president and general manager of Birmingham's USL expansion soccer team on Thursday, AL.com has learned.

The new Birmingham Legion Football Club will introduce Heaps to fans at 5 p.m. during a news conference and celebration at Good People Brewing Company. All fans interested in the club and professional sports in Birmingham are invited to the event, according to the team. Birmingham mayor Randall Woodfin will join fans for the welcoming party. Legion FC begins playing in the USL in 2019.

Heaps is a respected, well-known figure throughout MLS and American soccer, and his hiring by Legion FC sends a clear signal that Birmingham's expansion USL franchise has ambitious plans for soccer in the city. USL is the second division of American professional soccer, and Heaps, who is 41 years old, has played or coached in the United States throughout his entire career.

An exceptional athlete during his playing days, Heaps was a collegiate soccer star for Duke, and also played basketball for the Blue Devils and coach Mike Krzyzewski. His 11 seasons in MLS included four Eastern Conference championships with the Revolution. He was MLS Rookie of the Year in 1999 and MLS Defender of the Year in 2009.

Heaps retired after the 2009 season, and began coaching the Revolution in 2011. As a coach, he led the Revolution to the MLS postseason in 2013, 2014 and 2015. He was fired by the Revolution in September of 2017 after New England began the season 10-14-5. Led by former U.S. Men's National Team star Jermaine Jones, Heaps' Revolution made the MLS Cup finals in 2014.

Jones suffered a series of injuries beginning in 2015, and the Revolution underperformed in its final seasons under Heaps. Talent redundancies in the construction of its rosters have also been blamed for the Revolution's drop in form over the last few years.

Now Heaps will have a chance to build not only his own roster, but his own club. Before hiring Heaps, Legion FC's only full-time employee was vice president Morgan Copes. Copes was one of the co-owners of the Birmingham Hammers before being hired by Legion FC's ownership group last year.

The Birmingham Hammers will play its final season in the Premier Development League in 2018 before the club transitions to Legion FC. The team's name is a tribute to Legion Field, but Legion FC will not play at Legion Field.

A New England native, Heaps is from Nashua, New Hampshire, which is located across the state border from Boston's northern suburbs. He was a three-time finalist for college soccer's player of the year award and was drafted second overall by the Miami Fusion in the 1999 MLS College Draft after graduating from Duke with a degree in economics and history.

It's undecided where the Birmingham Hammers will play in 2018, but UAB's soccer stadium could be a temporary home for Legion FC in 2019. Legion FC merchandise is now available at Good People Brewing Company and the team is taking deposits for season tickets.