Leeds United have won the ePremier League 2022-23 final today, crowning them champions in the UK and preventing Spurs from winning a trophy at the same time.
Leeds players Olle ‘Ollelito’ Arbin (Sweden) and Tom Stokes (UK) beat Tottenham’s Tom Leese and Spencer ‘Gorilla’ Ealing (both British players who also play for Excel Esports) in the final of the FIFA 23 esports tournament.
The final took place over two legs, with Ollelito recording a 3-0 victory before Stokes drew 1-1 with former champion Leese.
The Spurs players were of course disappointed after the result, as seen in the clip below and in their quotes further in the article.
The news comes after the ePremier League 2022-23 finals player list was revealed, along with the announcement that Sky Sports would be broadcasting the event.
Tottenham have of course failed spectacularly on the pitch with their footballing side over the past few decades, having won two trophies in the last 30 years – the league cup in 1998-99 and 2008-09. Their recent exits from various cup competitions this year have led to manager Antonio Conte leaving the club just this evening.
While it’s not the physical football Premier League, the esports ePremier League 2022-23 final result could be taken as another example of the club being what’s known as ‘spursy’, failing at the final hurdle (or earlier hurdles) in competitons like the Champions League, FA Cup and more.
Credit must of course be given to Leeds. The journey to the grand final was by no means straightforward for them, following a tough run of fixtures in the tournament knockout rounds. After finishing second in Group C on Saturday, the Leeds pair still had to overcome tournament favourites Liverpool in the Quarter-Finals and Crystal Palace in a tense Semi-Final.
The winning duo picked up the £30,000 first prize, £15,000 per player, after the ePremier League 2022-23 final, with runners-up Gorilla and Tom Leese each winning £7,500.
The champions also won seats in the FIFA 23 Global Series Playoffs, with the runners-up earning seats in the FIFA 23 Global Series Play-Ins.
Players react to ePremier League 2022-23 final result
Spurs’ players were gutted after the ePremier League 2022-23 final result.
Tom Leese said:
Gorilla added on the ePremier League 2022-23 final: “Don’t know what to say… We lost in the ePremier League final and it hurts a lot. First off I just wanted to say thank you to Tom Leese, on and off FIFA I couldn’t ask for a better team mate. I lost the first leg 3-0 which then made things really hard for Tom in the last game.
“I have to do better than that and that loss is on me. Simple as that. Tom deserved to get his 2nd ePrem trophy and we was so close to doing it. I’ve got to step my game up if I want to get back competing at the highest level and adapt to gameplay when needed.
“Congratulations to Ollelito and Tom Stokes for winning. Two great people and if it wasn’t us winning it then I would have wanted them to. We got play ins for getting to the final so I need to focus for the rest of the season and improve. [This is] going to hurt for a while.”
Gorilla, Spurs
After clinching the title, Ollelito said: “Finally! I have come so close to winning this title before and to win it now, alongside Tom, means so much after all of the near misses. We’ve always played for the fans and it feels amazing to say that we’re now ePremier League Champions!”
Tom Stokes said: “It has been a tough couple of days but I’m so happy that we managed to get over the line. The quality of this year’s finals is the highest that I have known, so we had to work well together throughout the tournament. Credit to Tottenham Hotspur, it was a tough Grand Final and they didn’t give us an easy time. What a win!”
Premier League Chief Commercial Officer Will Brass said: “Congratulations to Ollelito, Stokes and Leeds United on winning the 2022/23 ePremier League title.
“This is the fifth edition of the tournament and once again we witnessed some thrilling action across two days of the Finals. It’s testament to the competitive nature of the ePL, that we have crowned a different winning club every single season.
“Many thanks to EA Sports for their continued support, enabling us to grow the tournament year-on-year, and to our broadcast partners who brought the action to viewers around the world. We’re looking forward to next year already and bringing more ePremier League action to fans around the globe.”
This year’s tournament and ePremier League 2022-23 final were televised and streamed in the UK by Sky Sports, as well as being shown across Premier League digital channels and on the EASportsFIFA Twitch channel. It was also made available to viewers around the world by the League’s international licensees.
There’s more information over at e.premierleague.com.
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.
