With football’s governing bodies announcing no competitive fixtures will take place until the 30th April and the recent coronavirus crisis leading many to believe it will be even longer; the void of no games has left a blank space in many supporters lives.
Following the suspension, club media have been challenged to improvise and create engaging content for their fans. Some have veered towards utilising their archives to celebrate past memories, while others have looked to their local community to support those in need.
League Two’s Leyton Orient had an idea of their own; an online FIFA 20 cleverly branded #UltimateQuaranTeam. The competition uses the games’ online feature to allow clubs to compete in one on one matches, in a knock out style competition.
The teams featured played as themselves using the games ’85 mode’ meaning all teams were rated the same, ensuring each game was fair.
Overnight Success
https://twitter.com/leytonorientfc/status/1239276927573262341?s=20
The east London club had provisionally reached out for 63 other clubs to compete but following a string of viral tweets, the O’s soon had 128 competitors from all around the world looking to play.
Premier League teams Newcastle United, Wolves, Crystal Palace and Norwich all got on board, as well as teams from overseas including: Orlando City, Ajax, Celta Vigo, Marseille and Central Coast Mariners.
Speaking to BBC Radio London, Orient Media Officer Dan Walker discussed how the idea came about, the success and the challenges faced before kickstarting the competition. Check it out here:
Making A Difference
The success of this idea provided the O’s with an opportunity to make a difference for a number of different charities:
Firstly, vital funding for EFL clubs who are going to have massive financial struggles (as of course will many industries across the world) during this time of fixture postponement.
With no match day income for the foreseeable future football clubs are struggling and things will only get worse. 75% of money raised will be given to the EFL to distribute amongst the 72 football clubs in the Championship, League One and League Two.
The remaining 25% of money raised will be split between two very worthy causes. One is the EFL’s chosen charity ‘MIND’, and secondly; funding the all-important COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fundraiser by the World Health Organisation.
As of April 1st, the League Two outfit had raised over £55,000 for their chosen charities, having smashed their original £50,000 target all before a game had even been played.
Like the number of participants, the club soon doubled their target and continue to work towards raising as much as possible.
The importance of raising funds for these charities was highlighted by Orient’s media man, who spoke to Radio 5 Live’s Nihal Arthanayake.
E-Sports The Answer?
As the global pandemic continues to disrupt normality, could e-sports provide a necessary release? Even simpler, without the competitive edge, gaming gives people the opportunity to connect with their friends and finally whilst playing their favourite video games.
#UltimateQuaranTeam has highlighted how our games consoles can be utilised during isolation. The competition encouraged a wide variety of people to get involved, including professional footballers.
Some of the stars involved were Andros Townsend of Crystal Palace, Bradley Dack of Blackburn Rovers and Todd Cantwell of Norwich.
Orient goalkeeper Sam Sargeant represented the hosts but fell at the first hurdle, suffering a 6-3 defeat to Lokomotiv Moscow. The full game can still be enjoyed via the O’s Twitch channel: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/572855859
Some clubs chose to reach into the gaming community; Millwall called on famous YouTuber Josh Zerker and French side Nantes employed four time world champion Bruce Grannec to play their games.
With resources limited, some clubs are yet to enter the ‘e-sport’ scene, particularly lower league sides but now could be inspired to investigate the potential of the industry following the success of Orient’s competition.
The competition has now reached the semi final stages, with the final set to take place this weekend. If you would like to make a donation, please follow the Just Giving link to the #UltimateQuaranTeam page here.
