British Manchester United footballer Jesse Lingard has acquired Audacity Esports, a Rainbow Six Siege esports team currently competing in Ubisoft’s UK and Ireland Nationals (UKIN).
The team, which currently competes under the temporary name, ‘Team JLE’, will be rebranded to Jlingz Esports and compete in the next season of the UKIN Second Division, with the ambition to create a legacy within Rainbow Six Siege as well as qualify for the 2022 European Challenger League.
The announcement was made during the UKIN finals today (Sunday August 29th 2021), and featured team captain Sam (pictured left) and Lingard (right).
“To finally dive into esports and add my own teams to Jlingz is incredible. Esports has everything for me – it’s fast paced and competitive, the community is amazing and it’s been great to have Ubisoft’s support on this journey too.”
Jesse Lingard
Audacity were one of six UK esports orgs who recently merged to form Coalesce Esports.
Jesse Lingard said: “My Jlingz brand has been growing for a number of years but to finally dive into esports and add my own teams to Jlingz is incredible. Esports has everything for me – it’s fast paced and competitive, the community is amazing and it’s been great to have Ubisoft’s support on this journey too. Watch this space, Jlingz Esports is going all the way!”
Will Attwood, esports marketing manager at Ubisoft UK, added: “We’re thrilled to have Jesse on board and look forward to someone who knows all about competing at the highest level bringing his expertise to the UK and Irish scene.
“Rainbow Six Esports and the UK & Ireland Nationals are going from strength-to-strength; to have someone as well-known and respected as Jesse Lingard involved is a testament to the game’s enduring popularity within the local esports community.”
The UK and Ireland Nationals, which is part of Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six Esports Global Circuit, has multiple divisions, with the top feeding into the European Challenger League.
The current season finals took place this weekend, with Navi beating MNM Gaming in the grand final. The news comes after Viperio already qualified for the European Challenger League.
More information on the UKIN Second Division will be communicated at a later date.
Lingard joins other British footballers who have got involved in esports, including Christian Fuchs, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Lingard’s teammate Harry Maguire and others.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
