English Premier League football club Manchester City have today released two of their long-running UK FIFA esports players.
Shaun ‘Shellzz’ Springette (right), who joined Man City in December 2018, and Ryan Pessoa (left), who’s been with the club since November 2019, have been let go.
Shellzz won the 2020/21 ePremier League for Man City a couple of years ago, and both players have played at the top level in FIFA esports over the years.
Also, the pair set a FIFAe Club World Cup qualifying record for Man City, tallying the joint highest qualifications for the FIFA eClub World Cup.
However, while City say the duo have been ‘prolific figures in our rapidly growing esports coverage and community’, representing the club at all manner of events from TwitchCon to Expo Dubai and various tournaments, Ryan hasn’t been happy with his performances overall.
“I delivered results way below expectations since arriving, but I wouldn’t change the experiences I’ve had for anything,” Ryan Pessoa said.
Shellzz added that his time with Man City was ‘an experience of a lifetime’.
“I am now a free agent and looking for a new team,” Shellzz added. “To everyone behind the scenes and the fans of this club. Thank you for everything!”
The players also often visited the City Football Academy for content shoots, including challenging City players to games of FIFA.
Man City said in a statement on their website: “Ryan and Shellzz have been a vital part of the Manchester City Esports journey, and we’d like to thank them for their service and contributions over the past five years.
“Everyone at City would like to wish Ryan and Shellzz the very best of luck in their next career steps.”
Man City
Elsewhere, Man City have retained the services of FIFA content creators FG (UK) and Kacee (USA), as well as their Fortnite players Threats (USA), Skram (Denmark) and Trippernn (Denmark).
FG bid the pair farewell on X (aka Twitter): “Ryan and Shellz, it’s been a pleasure. So grateful for what you’ve done for me and the laughs/memories we shared together.
“Best of luck in your new chapters and see you both soon.”
City said goodbye to the pair in a post describing them as legends of the esports scene:
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.
