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From the bright lights of the NLC Finals in Nottingham to the rowdy dimly lit basement of Manchester’s Pixel Bar, two very different UK League of Legends events showed us the same thing: the magic of showing up, in chants, chaos and community.
James ‘Gov’ Gove (aka The Governor), Brod n Friends’ Chief Brod Officer and well-known face in the community, attended both events to speak with fans, capture the atmosphere, and hear their stories, as well as sharing his opinion on the important return of live events in UK LoL.
At the NLC Finals and the follow-up LEC watch party in Nottingham, I spent the day chatting with as many people as I could.
I spoke with casual fans experiencing their first live event to longtime viewers who’d waited years to see this level of production for a UK League ERL (EMEA Regional League) event in person.
At Pixel Bar in Manchester for the UKEL 4 Nations finals, the tier below the NLC, the crowd was much more familiar, made up of regular faces from the UK League community who brought the same energy, just packed into a smaller, more intimate space.
Across both, what stood out to me were the stories people shared. The honest, weird, funny stories, and those who are deeply proud of the scene we’ve built in the UK. But there was also a new community – I’m talking about The Rats.
Los Ratones, winners of the NLC (and now winners of the EMEA Masters Winter 2025) and their founder Caedrel have amassed a huge following, who showed up in numbers for the NLC finals in Nottingham.
The Nottingham NLC final that felt like a revival
The NLC Winter 2025 Finals LAN felt like a proper moment for UK League of Legends. It was the kind of event that pulled people in from across Europe and reminded everyone what kind of an atmosphere a live crowd can create for a final.
Nottingham Trent University’s Confetti X venue held the LAN final, while The Nest at Notts County Football Club held the NLC/LEC finals watch party and Los Ratones meet and greet sessions afterwards.
I spent most of the day talking with fans in the crowd and again at the watch party afterwards. It was pretty clear who the fan favourites were, you’d have struggled to find many casual fans not plastered in Los Ratones merch.
One fan I interviewed had travelled from Germany, not because he followed the NLC or even League itself until recently, he discovered League of Legends through Linkin Park, he saw G2 had reacted to the post and he wondered why an esports team was getting involved. This started his journey to become a LoL esports fan, and he fell in love with it.
He didn’t even play League. He just liked the vibe.
For a game that has a very commonly held belief on just how difficult it is for new fans to get involved, the barrier to entry for just understanding what’s going on is a significant one to overcome, but not impossible. Give the fans a reason to care and they will pour their heart and soul into a community they feel they belong to.
That’s exactly what Los Ratones (LR) is, he discovered Caedrel and followed the rats because he sees them as real human beings and connected with that. He follows them because he believes they deserve the success – and who could disagree with the man?
“We’ve now seen Los Ratones do it all in their first split, winning the EMEA masters and NLC finals both 3-0. It’s hard to see where they can improve for the rest of 2025, but I can tell from speaking to so many of their fans that they’ll follow them anywhere.”
That was the story for a lot of people, it wasn’t just about the games. It was about belonging to something fun, chaotic, and weirdly heartfelt.
The number of Los Ratones shirts in the room made me feel very much in the minority backing underdogs Nord Esports, especially with the amount of noise my mates and I were making at the back of the venue. Every person I spoke to, though, especially the LR fans in person, loved the atmosphere. And we heard some LR fans chant back at points, which we encouraged. I’m always happy to be the clown in the room that allows others to express their passion and there was a lot of it to draw from.
That’s the magic of this scene. You just need something people want to be part of.
UKEL Winter 2025 finals at Pixel Bar – all vibes, no barriers
If the NLC Finals event was a showcase, Pixel Bar was a reunion. The UKEL 4 Nations Winter 2025 final didn’t have big screens or tier-one production, but it didn’t need to. The room was packed from start to finish with players, fans, and friends who’d been part of the scene for years.
This was a very ambitious event to put on in such a tight space with the time we spent planning it all, so I want to give massive credit to the UKEL volunteer team. It was an incredibly ambitious idea to build on what we did last summer at Pixel Bar Manchester with the UKEL Sunshine Showdown.
To have a proper live final, with casters, desk, production and players all in one building, I wasn’t sure how it could be pulled off. There were going to be issues, but credit to the hard work and determination of the team for working non-stop to get it done. The setup reminded me of images I’ve seen online of older LAN events, which some see as a bygone era. It just goes to show how much you’re able to make happen if you have the will and passion backing it.
We had to show up for them, and for us, for the community.
My team, Brod & Friends, unfortunately fell short of reaching the final, so it was Venomcrest facing 200 Bandits in the Winter 2025 UKEL 4 Nations final. But we turned up in numbers, loud and proud. Temporary tattoos, noise, and good times. It would be criminal not to praise Venomcrest for pulling off the invincible streak, though it was a decent job for import FC.
I spoke to caster Middlecott just before the games began, and he put it better than I ever could:
“What we’ve got here is a celebration of not just the work that’s been put in this split but of successive splits by so many different people. I think the UK has a really vibrant, really engaging fan culture that I think has [in the past] been underrepresented and hasn’t necessarily been given the opportunity to shine.”
Middlecott
That’s what linked both events together, Confetti and Pixel, LR and the UK community, big finals and basement LANs.
Two very different venues.
Two very different scales.
The same magic.
The recent UK LoL LANs and why it all mattered
The NLC Finals were a genuine success story, not just in person, but online too. Across the main channel and co-streams, NLC Winter 2025 finals viewership peaked at over 360,000 as Los Ratones defeated Nord Esports.
That’s not just gigantic for UK League, that’s massive for any regional esports event. It proved there’s a real appetite for this scene when it’s given the platform to shine, give people a real reason to follow teams and offer a community to be a part of.
Pixel Bar was the opposite end of the spectrum for online viewership, we didn’t have 360,000 people watching, but we didn’t need to. Just bodies in the room, Brod tattoos on foreheads, atmosphere in the basement, and a fanbase that cared enough to show up and support the community, even when their teams weren’t playing.
And that’s the beauty of it.
One event made headlines. The other made memories.
Both mattered.
Because this is how it grows, not just with big stages, but with communities who keep showing up, again and again, until the scene doesn’t just survive… it thrives.
Related article from the archives: How UK LoL esports today is all about friendship, piss-taking and having a good time – opinion
