England Football together with EE have launched the Connected Club Cup, a new FIFA esports competition for grassroots gamers across England.
Open to anyone over the age of 16, gamers will battle it out to be crowned the winner and play against England footballers and talent from UK esports organisation Excel Esports at Wembley Stadium on August 23rd 2022. The live final, powered by EE Full Fibre broadband, will be streamed on England Football’s Twitch channel.
The Connected Club Cup qualifiers will take place online on June 4th and 5th, hosted by esports tournament provider Battlefy.
18 of the best gamers from the qualifiers will move onto the semi-finals.
The three semi-final tournaments will be hosted at one of EE’s Connected Clubs – grassroots football club where clubhouses will be turned into game houses using EE Full Fibre. Merseyrail Ladies FC, Chasetown FC and Worthing Town FC will host six players each on June 12the.
The semi-finalists will compete in a two-leg round-robin (all-play-all) tournament, with each leg played on a different console.
The Connected Cup Final, hosted in The FA Club Box at Wembley Stadium on August 23rd, will welcome two grassroots gamers from each semi-final. Following the same round-robin format as the semi-finals, the six finalists can also test their skills against England Footballers and Excel.
“Connecting grassroots clubs is vital in this digital age and joining up with the exciting world of esports is a brilliant opportunity for gamers to show their skills and compete to be crowned the Connected Club Cup champion at Wembley, in front of England and Excel players.”
Pete Jeavons, EE
Esports fans will be able to watch players trick, flick and spin it out to be awarded the Connected Club Cup trophy – and a host of prizes including tickets to an England Football match, Wembley Stadium concert tickets and a yearly EE Full Fibre subscription.
Navin Singh, commercial director at the FA, said: “The Connected Club Cup will give esports fans across England the chance to show off their skills and build a future in FIFA esports, with the ultimate prize of competing in the live final from the home of English football, Wembley Stadium.
“This new initiative will bring together football communities through esports and promote improved digital connectivity at grassroots clubs across the country.”
Pete Jeavons, director of marketing communications at EE, added: “The Connected Club Cup brings together the unbeatable performance and reliability of EE’s Full Fibre broadband and the passion and skill seen at grassroots level gaming.
“Connecting grassroots clubs is vital in this digital age and joining up with the exciting world of esports is a brilliant opportunity for gamers to show their skills and compete to be crowned the Connected Club Cup champion at Wembley, in front of England and Excel players.”
EE is the lead partner of the Home Nations Football Associations. Its ambition is to connect over 200 grassroots community football clubs across the Home Nations with a package of EE products and services, including wi-fi, broadband and landline.
In other related news, Excel Esports announced a revised Valorant roster and teamed up with EE to launch a new fitness routine for gamers.
To enter the Connected Club Cup, visit battlefy.com/connectedclubcup by 6pm BST on June 4th.
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.
