The FIFA ePremier League 2021/2022 grand finals will take place this month, and the player/club line-ups have been revealed.
Now into its fourth year, this season’s tournament sees the ePremier League prize pool increased to £100,000, with three seats on offer for top-ranking players at the FIFA 22 Global Series Playoffs.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s ePremier League grand finals are the first featuring all finalists at a live venue since the 2018/19 season, with players competing at Here East in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on Saturday March 26th and Sunday March 27th.
Once again, the finals will be televised live in the UK by Sky Sports Premier League, with tournament action also shown across Premier League channels (YouTube, web, app, Twitter and Facebook) and on EA’s Twitch channel.
It will also be on the Sky Sports YouTube channel and made available to viewers around the world by the League’s international broadcast licensees.
All 20 Premier League clubs hosted club playoffs earlier in the year, with 40 players, two per club, progressing to the grand finals.
This year’s finalists include the 2019/20 winner Thomas Leese, representing Tottenham Hotspur with fellow Excel teammate Huge Gorilla, and inaugural champion Donovan ‘Tekkz’ Hunt, who will be playing on behalf of Liverpool for the fourth time.
Shellzz, who won the 2020/21 ePremier League final for Man City, is missing after failing to progress in the qualifiers.
Former ePremier League champion Thomas Leese, who joined Excel Esports last year, said: “I’m excited to be competing again this year and I’m really looking forward to getting the chance to regain my ePremier league title. The level of players has gone up a notch, so I know that it’s going to be a difficult task. It’s an honour to represent Tottenham and I’d love to win the ePremier League title for them.”
“Nobody has ever won the tournament more than once so it would be unreal for me to be the first person to do it. I’m looking forward to the grand finals, particularly as it’s the first in-person event for over two years.”
Tom Leese, Spurs
There is a change to the tournament format for this year’s grand finals. Players will work collaboratively as a team by taking part in a series of 1v1 matches against pairings from other clubs, with one player competing per console, in a two-legged tie.
Clubs are split into four groups for Saturday’s matches, with the top two in each group progressing to Sunday’s knockout stages. The two victorious players in the overall final will win the honour of ePremier League champion for their club.
Inaugural ePremier League winner Donovan ‘Tekkz’ Hunt said: “I’m a huge Liverpool fan, so to represent the club for the fourth year in a row means a lot. The new team-based format of the grand finals is really exciting and means that I’ll need to work closely with my partner, Diogo, if we’re to win. I’m looking forward to getting going.”
Last season’s ePremier League runner-up Olle ‘Ollelito’ Arbin is once again through to the grand finals, representing Leeds United for the second time.
Other notable players include Ryan ‘MCFC Ryan’ Pessoa (Manchester City), Spencer ‘Huge Gorilla’ Ealing (Tottenham Hotspur), Diogo Mendes (Liverpool) and Watford duo Alex ‘Shawrey’ Shaw and Tom Stokes.
A whole host of players are from UK esports organisations. Kyle Rowley, from UK esports org Endangered, will be representing Aston Villa, along with 1mpactz from SAF Esports. Jas Singh (Everton) and Mhaywxrd (Leeds) are from Semper Fortis Esports, while Planet Toast from Clique Esports will be representing Newcastle.
LDN UTD have three players involved: CallumN17 with Everton, as well as Robbie Wilson and Michael Fisher with Southampton.
This year’s competition is the first ePremier League to be played on next-generation consoles, Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
Premier League CCO Will Brass said: “We are delighted to be hosting the ePremier League grand finals as a live event once again, with all the finalists competing in the same arena. This will add to the excitement for those competing as well as people watching from home.”
Broadcast coverage will be fronted by experienced sports and entertainment presenters Rachel Stringer, Kyle Walker and Nicole Holliday and commentators include esports experts Brandon Smith, Richard Buckley and Lisa Manley. George Overton, Corey Dyer and FIFA Analyst (from SAF Esports) will also be commentating.
Last month it was announced that tournament organiser Blast would be handling production of this year’s ePremier League.
ePremier League 2021/22 clubs and players: The full line-up
- Arsenal: AFC Billy (Xbox), ActualEmperor14 (PlayStation)
- Aston Villa: 1mpactz (Xbox), Kyrowley (PlayStation)
- Brentford: Sambrwster (Xbox), Czohino (PlayStation)
- Brighton: Jayden (Xbox), Marley (PlayStation)
- Burnley: Brad Colston (Xbox), Bur_Josh (PlayStation)
- Chelsea: JSharpp (Xbox), StingrayJnr (PlayStation)
- Crystal Palace: Niksneb Jr (Xbox), Ethxnh (PlayStation)
- Everton: CallumN17 (Xbox), Jas Singh (PlayStation)
- Leeds: Ollelito (Xbox), Mhaywxrd (PlayStation)
- Leicester: Painter (Xbox), Pcosmin6 (PlayStation)
- Liverpool: Tekkz (Xbox), Diogo (PlayStation)
- Man City: Ryan Pessoa (Xbox), BhughesyFIFA (PlayStation)
- Man United: TheRealHP05 (Xbox), Poacher (PlayStation)
- Newcastle: Planet Toast (Xbox), PlzGoForwards (PlayStation)
- Norwich: Damie (Xbox), GoalPoacher_ (PlayStation)
- Southampton: RobbieWilson_ (Xbox), Michael-Fisher20 (PlayStation)
- Tottenham: Huge Gorilla (Xbox), Tom Leese (PlayStation)
- Watford: Shawrey (Xbox), Stokes (PlayStation)
- West Ham: Redlac (Xbox), TomSmithh7 (PlayStation)
- Wolves: Joey (Xbox), KaiFIFA_ (PlayStation)
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.
