The Premier League and EA have announced the return of the ePremier League for the 2021/22 season. Now into its fourth year, the competition gives Premier League fans a shot at glory by winning silverware for their favourite club. For the first time, Brentford fans can take part and play as The Bees.

The prize pool for the tournament has increased to £100,000, with three seats on offer for top-ranking players at the EA SPORTS™ FIFA 22 Global Series Playoffs. Players of all abilities can register now for the tournament and will compete for a place in the club Play-Offs by participating in a series of online open qualification tournaments between November and January. This year’s competition sees the return of a live ePremier League Grand Final in a venue to be revealed soon, where the two best players from all 20 Premier League clubs will battle it out on 26 and 27 March 2022.*

There will also be a change to the Grand Finals format this season. Players will work collaboratively as a team for the first time by taking part in a series of 1 vs 1 matches against pairings from other clubs, with one player competing per console. The competition will be played on next-generation consoles, PlayStation®5 and Xbox Series X|S, with players able to sign up at e.premierleague.com/.

Premier League Chief Commercial Officer Will Brass said: “We are delighted to be launching the fourth season of the ePremier League, which will once again offer UK-based fans of EA SPORTS FIFA 22 the opportunity to represent their clubs in an official Premier League tournament. The popularity of the FIFA video game series allows us to connect with fans globally and, over the last three years, we have seen an increasing number of people from all over the world engage with the competition.

“A number of exciting developments have been introduced this season, including a new series of qualification tournaments and a team-based format in the Grand Final. I have no doubt this will lead to another highly competitive and dramatic tournament as we build towards the climax in March 2022. We have seen a real mix of amateur players and established FIFA professionals progress to the latter stages in previous seasons and, as ever, we look forward to seeing whether new or established names can bring home the trophy for their Premier League club.”

Manchester City’s professional FIFA player Shaun ‘Shellzz’ Springette lifted the 2020/21 ePremier League Trophy, triumphing in a penalty shootout victory over Leeds United representative Olle ‘Ollelito’ Arbin.

Shellzz said: “Words can’t describe how it felt winning last season’s ePremier League title. It had been a long journey to that point so it meant a lot and the competition will always be special to me for that reason. There’s always new talent emerging each year so defending my title will be a challenge but one that I’m ready for and I can’t wait to be part of the event again this year.”

Sam Turkbas, FIFA Competitive Gaming Commissioner, added: “Our EA SPORTS objective is to harness the power of football and use esports entertainment to connect football fans to the game they love. In partnership with the Premier League, we’re thrilled to launch the first-ever ePremier League on next generation consoles, seeing which competitors will win a trophy for their favourite Premier League club. This tournament is unique in that it gives players of all abilities the chance to go from sofa to stage to represent their team on the virtual pitch; potentially even lifting a trophy on behalf of the team they support!”

ePremier League 2021/22 Format:

The competition is open to UK residents aged 16 and over, with the winning players taking home a share of the £100,000 prize pool. There will also be three seats on offer for top-ranking players at the EA SPORTS FIFA 22 Global Series Playoffs. More information about the EA SPORTS FIFA 22 Global Series can be found here.

After registering, players compete in a series of online qualification tournaments, with only the best advancing to the Club Playoffs. From there, each of the 20 Premier League clubs will narrow down the competitors and take forward two players, one per console, to represent them at the Grand Finals between 26-27 March 2022. For more information on the qualification rules and information on how to register, visit e.premierleague.com/.

ePremier League 2021/22 Key Dates and Information

Online Qualification Tournaments

Qualifier 1                                                          16/17 November 2021

Qualifier 2                                                          23/24 November 2021

Qualifier 3                                                          30 November/1 December 2021

Qualifier 4                                                          14/15 December 2021

Qualifier 5                                                          21/22 December 2021

Qualifier 6                                                          4/5 January 2022

Qualifier 7                                                          11/12 January 2022

Online Qualifier Playoff                                        18/19 January 2022

Club Playoffs: February/March 2022 (precise dates to be confirmed by each club).

Grand Finals:  26-27 March 2022.

* The in-person Grand Final will be subject to Covid-19 restrictions in place at the time.