An increasing number of football leagues across Europe have set up their own eLeague and the Premier League couldn’t fall behind. The first e-competition was organised in 2018-2019 and a few years later it looks like the e-version of the Premier League has come to stay on the top of the English football agenda.
Each year, clubs from the highest football division pick a player for both PlayStation and Xbox allowing all UK residents over the age of 16 to compete and qualify for the ePremier League. The overall prize pool was £40,000 last season and the winners of the English league will also be able to qualify for the EA Sports FIFA 21 Global Series (FGS) European Playoffs, including players from other countries as well. In this article we’ll give you all the details about the ePremier League and how to sign up and qualify yourself.
What is the ePremier League?
The ePremier League is the esports version of the English Premier League. eSports is a form of competition using video games, including football themed games like FIFA. eSports are also known as electronic sports, e-sports, or Esports. There is also esport betting available on the majority of all esport games.
The ePremier League consists of all 20 English top-tier teams competing in EA Sport’s most recent FIFA-release. The latest FIFA game to be released is FIFA21 which will hit the markets on the 26th of September 2021. All 20 Premier League e-teams compete against each other after which the best placed clubs advance to the ePremier League Finals. The ePremier League is part of the FIFA 22 Global Series and is open to gamers from the UK, who can sign up to represent their favourite football team.
The first online Premier League was held in 2018 for FIFA players on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The new season of the ePremier League is subject to change and depends on the Covid-19 developments in the United Kingdom.
How to register
Registration for the ePremier League can be done at the ePremier League website, and it is a rather self explanatory process. The exact details of how to sign up for the new season will be announced soon, once available. This also holds for the devices players are allowed to use. Registration is open to anyone in the United Kingdom who plays FIFA 22 (or FIFA21) on a PlayStation or XBox and is at least 16 years of age. Each club will choose a player to represent their team. This is done for both PlayStation and XBox users.
How to qualify
Once you’ve signed up for the eLeague there will be a qualification round for the FIFA game. This opened in the beginning of January in 2021 and was closed on the last day of the month. A lot of players who compete in the league are professional esporters. But as everybody is allowed to sign up there is also room for amateur players to qualify for the competition. The ePremier League is therefore considered a perfect platform for video game players to show their best skills and progress to the final stages of the PlayStation and XBox tournaments. The list of qualified players features both professional and non-professional players. Last season’s qualifying tournament required British players to play in 90-rated Online Friendlies mode picking their favourite Premier League team.
Who has won the ePremier League so far?
The first electronic Premier League was organised in 2018-2019 and won by Liverpool’s Donovan ‘Tekkz’ Hunt. As the corona pandemic shook up both the regular and ePremier League, the 2019-2020 playoffs weren’t held as a live sports event, but were organised online instead. Watford’s Thomas ‘Hashtag Tom’ Leese turned out to be victorious for The Hornets. Hashtag Tom defeated Bournemouth’s Marc “MarcMarleyyy” Marley 2-1 on aggregate in a PlayStation-XBox cross-console Grand Final, with one match being played on each console. According to the Watford player, the ePL, as the league is also referred to, is a “massive tournament with many people across the world following the competition”.
