Hollinger-Janzen lands with Heaps, Soehn in USL

Former Revolution striker Femi Hollinger-Janzen has found a new footballing home — and it’s full of familiar faces, to boot.

USL Championship side Birmingham Legion FC — which will begin play this year — announced Monday afternoon that it has signed Hollinger-Janzen to a multi-year contract. Former Revolution defender and manager Jay Heaps is Birmingham’s general manager, while Heaps’ top assistant Tom Soehn, who became interim manager after the Revolution sacked Heaps in September 2017, is the Birmingham manager.

In addition, former Rev Khano Smith is Soehn’s assistant.

“Femi is a player we know well from his time in MLS,” Heaps said in a club statement. “Not only does he exhibit a physical, attacking style of play at a variety of positions, he has excellent character and will be a good presence in the locker room.”

Hollinger-Janzen was New England’s third-round selection in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft (51st overall) and went on to make 32 first-team appearances in the league. After the 2016 season, he was left unprotected by the Revolution and was subsequently selected by Minnesota United FC in the expansion draft.

He was then transferred back to New England in exchange for fan favorite goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth a couple of weeks later.

In 2018, he went on a one-match loan to Tulsa in USL.

His lone appearance in a New England shirt this season came in the Revs’ US Open Cup defeat to Louisville City FC in June.

His contract option for 2019 was declined on Friday, Nov. 5.

BSJ Analysis

You have to be happy for Femi. He was a good servant who went about like a professional; however, he just wasn’t an MLS player. He’s where he belongs, in USL.

Add in the fact it’s a spot where he’ll be playing for people who drafted him, and then picked him back up after leaving him unprotected — quite possibly one of the biggest head-scratching moves of that particular offseason — you have to figure that he’s going to happy there.

With Femi signing with Birmingham, that leaves Mark Segbers and Claude Dielna as the last two of the six declined contracts from 2018 that have yet to find a place to play in 2019.