King Power Stadium Stages ePL FIFA 19 Play-Offs!
- The home of Leicester City Football Club hosted the Club's ePremier League FIFA 19 Play-Offs on Saturday
- Thirty-two competitors, playing both PlayStation 4 and Xbox, battled for the chance to represent the Foxes in March's ePL Finals
- Preet Dhinsa won on the PlayStation 4 competition's grand final, while Alex Shaw was the Xbox tournament champion
- The ePL Finals take place in London over 28 and 29 March, broadcast live on Sky Sports and the Premier League's social media channels
Staged in The Gallery on Filbert Way, 32 players, split equally between competitors playing PlayStation 4 and Xbox, fought it out for the chance to represent the Club in the ePL Final in March.
All 20 Premier League clubs will host or have already staged a live play-off round, giving two competitors, one for each console, the opportunity to advance to the final stage.
The ePL Final will be held across 28 and 29 March 2019, in London, and broadcast live on Sky Sports, as well as the Premier League's digital channels.
Thousands of Foxes fans went head-to-head for the chance to represent Leicester City in the online stages last year, with only the very best players making it to the play-offs.
On Saturday, the gamers were tasked with advancing through three rounds of two-legged fixtures for a chance to reach the final in front of a large viewership on the @LCFC channels.
In the PlayStation 4 final, Preet Dhinsa, going by the online pseudonym preet123, defeated Ethan Higgins – EthxnH – on the golden goal rule after both legs ended in stalemate.
Speaking to LCFC TV, a delighted Preet said: "I wasn't coming here expecting to win if I'm honest... It's not really sunk in yet!
"The final I won was a bit unorthodox, but I'm happy nonetheless. I was 3-2 down and he took it into the corner but I got one last chance and headed it in at the front post to go to golden goal.
"It wasn't a comfortable win but I did it in true Leicester City style! It's going to be tough at the ePL finals, but it should be good fun.
"A lot of my friends are Leicester City fans, I've been born and bred here, so it should be fun to represent the Club there!"
Meanwhile, in the Xbox final, Alex Shaw, titled Hashtag Shawrey on the game, beat Jordan Withers, Jordy1884, by a score of 5-3 to seal the coveted medal at the end of the day.
Esports continuously attracts enormous viewing numbers online as the industry grows at a remarkable pace.
Caster Dan Gaski has seen that growth first-hand and, after commentating on his first competition at King Power Stadium, he labelled the event a huge success.
"This is the kind of grassroots tournament that we need to see more often because we get to see players we're not used to seeing performing incredibly well on the day," he said.
"The winners will compete against players from the other 19 clubs, who are some of the best players in the world, and they will get a chance to try and get Global Series ranking points too.
"Those points allow you to try and get towards the eWorld Cup, which is the biggest stage. For some, though, it's just about representing a club that they love.
"Realistically, most of these players average around five hours a day of practice, if not up to 10 hours a day. They do it for a living so they do have the time to do so.
"Commentating on these events brings different challenges, but I love every second of it because there's so much action within the 12-minute games.
"I was 13 when I first got involved with Esports and I'm 27 now. Now players play in million-dollar tournaments and it's only going to keep getting bigger."
The Premier League, meanwhile, is keen to harness that incredible popularity and provide followers of the division with a platform to compete on an international stage.
Nikki Emerson, Business Development Manager for the Premier League, told LCFC TV: "It's been a great event with a mixture of professional players and Leicester fans wanting to play for their club.
"To see those people taking each other on and some shock wins for the amateurs, it was great. The finals are down at the Gfinity Arena in London and it is two days of competition.
"Hopefully we'll see Preet and Alex play across both days! It's been great to see Premier League clubs putting so much effort in and getting some brilliant players to represent them."
Keep an eye on LCFC.com over the next month for news of how Preet and Alex fare in the ePL finals! Meanwhile, to watch the day's stream back in full, click HERE.