Issue 02

ISSUE002JULY 2018 

KURT0411 

He’s on a 

mission to start 

a revoloution 

MegaBit 

Global Series 

Playoffs winner 

Crafty95 

An underdog 

ready to leave 

his mark 

eWorld Cup 2018 

WHO WILL BE 

COWNED CHAMPION

LETTER 

FROM THE 

EDITOR 

2 Esports World Football

Publisher 

Justin Lawson 

justinlawson@blackknightmedialtd.com 

Tel: +44 (0)203 750 6028 

Twitter: @esportsWorldFC 

The eWorld Cup is nearly upon us and here at Esports World Football 

and we can’t wait for it to get started. Some 32 of the best FIFA players 

will come together at London’s O2 as they look to become the next 

World Champion. 

The fact that the tournament will be taking place at the world famous venue 

in London shows the popularity of eSports and just how far it has come, 

the players are already earning a certain celebrity status and with so many 

outstanding performances from the 32 participants, this year, it really is 

hard to call just who will come out on top. 

The Germans have the biggest representation in the competition and we 

talk to the Global Playoffs Series winner Megabit, as he looks to continue 

his success from Amsterdam. 

Editor 

Chris Lafferty 

chrislafferty@blackknightmedialtd.com 

Tel: +44 (0)203 750 6024 

Twitter: @esportsWorldFC1 

Website and magazine designer 

Steven Lafferty 

design@blackknightmedialtd.com 

Tel: +44 (0)7843 811 240 

Twitter: @esportsWorldFC2 

We also talk to this month’s cover star Kurt0411 about rage quitting and 

how he wants to start a FIFA revolution. 

www.esportsworldfootball.com 

3

8 

Die ganze Arbiet 

Earlier this year Michael ‘MegaBit’ Bittner won the 

FIFA 18 Global Series Playoffs and he tells us all 

about it

COVER STORY 

10 

On the spot 

Self professed ‘Demi-God’ Kurt0411 discusses rage quitting, the eWorld 

Cup and the ability to smash Pro Clubs at will 

NEWS 

6 

News round-up 

Get all the latest news from the world of FIFA 

INTERVIEWS 

12 

14 

16 

19 

Luke ‘Crafty’ Craft 

Can the man from Cornwall walk away from London and finish the year as 

the 2018 eWorld Cup champion? 

MICHAEL LABELLE 

The Houston native gave us his final assessment on FIFA 18 and told us 

what he is expecting from FIFA 19 on its official release 

The VFL 

Aaron Baker discusses the progress of The Virtual Football League in the 

Pro Club community and getting the game mode more exposure 

The Toffees on PS4 

Esports World Football spoke to the co-managers of the PS4 team VFL Everton 

to discuss the upcoming season, recent trials and their future aims 

20 eCherries 

Esports World Football’s Justin Lawson caught up with Daniel Hurtig aka 

Mokum031, manager of VFL Bournemouth, to talk season 34 of the VFL 

22 

24 

Cod Army on the march 

VFL Fleetwood Town is manager Eddie Carter, speaks about its last season 

and what to expect in the coming season 

Sowing the seeds of greatness 

Kaden FM manager of the Farmers VPG eSports team discusses how the newly 

formed team coped on their debut season and plans for future domination 

26 

Cool AF name and can they play 

With one of the most lit names in FIFA VPG, Dirty 30’s manager Ste Skilling talks 

L2 North, the team’s debut season and squad goals

Yimmie aiming to conquer 

the eDivisie 

PS4 specialist Jimmy Donkers aka Yimmie has signed for Feyenoord 

and will be representing the team in the coming eDivisie season. 

Earlier this month Yimmie had booked his place in the eWorld Cup Grand 

Final that is taking place at the O2 in London at the beginning of August. 

Commenting on his move Yimmie added: “With a lot of pride I can 

say that I will be playing for this beautiful club again next year I will 

also make my debut in the @E_Divisie on the PS4 I want to thank @ 

teamBundled and @Feyenoord for the opportunity and trust they 

have given me!” 

U’s gain promotion 

Oxford United’s eSports side won promotion at their first attempt, 

finishing second in the VPG League One South. Promotion has seen 

them enter the Championship South this coming season where they 

will face a sterner test. 

Oxford scored nine goals in three different games, hit eight on two 

occasions and also scored 121 league goals. 

The side lost just twice in the league all season, both times to the 

eventual champions, Elite. 

Director Damon Graham is reported as saying “With five games to go 

we were one point ahead of Elite but they beat us 1-0 to go clear at 

the top. 

We won 3-0 in the following game and then won emphatically 9-1 in a 

game we dominated. 

“In a second against third clash we went 1-0 up but were pegged back 

by a late goal to draw 1-1 with Red Birds. In the last game of the season 

we wanted to end on a high, which we did, beating Warriors Elite 5-1.” 

FC Bayern Munich’s club 

president veto’s eSports plan 

Having been poised to enter the eSports industry it now looks as if 

German football club FC Bayern Munich have scrapped their plans. 

With plenty of traditional football teams getting involved with 

esports, Ajax and Man City already have their very own pro 

esport players, Germany’s biggest club Bayern Munich have 

decided not to follow suit if reports in German paper Blind are 

anything to go by. 

VFL Wolfsburg, RB Leipzig and FC Schalke 04, already have their own 

professional eSports departments and reports suggested that FC 

Bayern had put aside a budget of five million euros to fund and buy 

esports stars to compete at the highest level. 

VFL Wolfsburg partners up 

with Vodafone 

The club was the first German Bundesliga side to enter the eSports 

arena back in 2015 and have recently launched Wolves E-Academy, 

a FIFA eSports team that develops budding talent in FIFA.VFL 

Wolfsburg’s existing sponsors include CosmosDirekt, UPS Germany, 

effect, and Turtle Beach. 

Dr. Tim Schumacher, managing director of VFL Wolfsburg stated: 

“We have already worked together on many exciting projects 

and are looking forward to implementing them very soon and 

sharing them with our fans. The commitment of a company like 

Vodafone is, not the least, a clear indication of just how rapidly 

developments in esports are currently proceeding and shows us 

that we are already on the right path.”

2016 eWorld Cup 

Champion leaves Ares 

Mohamad Al-Bacha, former FIFA eWorld Cup Champion, has 

left Ares. 

Damian Augustyniak 

joins Roma Fnatic 

19 year old Polish PlayStation gamer Damian Augustyniak who 

goes by Damie has announced he has joined AS Roma Fnatic. 

Commenting on his Twitter account Al-Bacha said: “It’s been a 

journey with a lot of nice experiences, but it’s time to move on and 

find new challenges. I will be very motivated for FIFA 19.” 

Ozil lets us know 

The venue for the finals of the FIFA eWorld Cup 2018 has just been 

released in a video introduced by FIFA eWorld Cup ambassador and 

Arsenal player Mesut Ozil. 

The finals will be played at the O2 Arena which is a multipurpose 

indoor arena located in the centre of The O2 

entertainment complex on the Greenwich Peninsula in south 

east London. 

Augustyniak, previously represented Nordavind, made his Giallorossi 

debut at the FIFA Global Series Playoffs in Amsterdam. His last 

appearance as a Nordavind player was at the Gfinity Elite Series, a 

competition which ‘Zimme’ and ‘Rannerz’ eventually won. 

At the time of joining he added on his twitter: “I’m delighted to 

announce that I’m joining @RomaFnatic / @FNATIC as their new 

FIFA player. This is huge step forward for me and I know that 

we will achieve a lot together. Let’s start with the Playoff 

Event in Amsterdam!” 

#RomaSiamoNoi 

Earlier this year we saw 32 players across Xbox and PlayStation 

qualify for the finals with MegaBit winning the FIFA 18 Global Series 

Playoffs on Xbox and ‘Nicolas99FC’ on PlayStation 4.

Die 

ganze 

Arbeit 

Earlier this year Michael ‘MegaBit’ Bittner won the FIFA 

18 Global Series Playoffs and he tells us all about it

BY JUSTIN LAWSON 

Earlier this year you became the FIFA 18 GLOBAL 

SERIES Playoffs Xbox Champion, how did that feel? 

If you could change one thing about FIFA what would 

it be and why? 

It felt really amazing. I realised that all the hard work I’ve been putting 

into learning the game was completely worth it! 

Did that tournament go better than expected? What 

were your expectations going into the tournament? 

I knew I was capable of going all the way, but the main aim was to 

reach the final 16 on Xbox and to qualify for the FIFA eWorld Cup 

Finals in London! After doing that, I wasn’t nervous anymore as I 

knew I would get my chance at becoming a world champion two 

months later. This made me feel really comfortable, allowing me to 

play my best FIFA during the knockout stage! 

I would like to change the current system of game modes in Ultimate 

Team where you only have the Weekend League worth playing to 

seriously improve your squad by simply playing the game. 

You can just play seasons, draft or against friends during the week. 

There needs to be way more competitive modes to play on the 

highest level in game modes all the time. 

Why is the German FIFA scene so strong right now? 

We have a huge community with many different leagues like Virtual 

Bundesliga or ESL Championship, this allows all the top players to 

MEGABIT 

As one of the favourites for the eWorld Cup in August 

is there anyone you would rather not face? 

I don’t want to play against Nraseck as I think he’s the most 

consistent player in terms of balancing his gameplay and waiting for 

his opportunity. 

How would you describe your style of play? 

I always try to pressure my opponent to get back possession and 

then play forward as fast as possible, doing moves my opponent 

either doesn’t predict or just isn’t able to defend. 

Who are your go to players in your FUT team? 

play each other under the circumstances of a competition. Through 

these experiences you learn what you need to do and how you need 

to behave to have success at huge tournaments. 

How do you view the pro club scene (VPG, VFL)? 

It’s nice to see the development of competitive leagues for various 

game modes within FIFA. 

Is there much of a difference in skill level between pro 

club gamers and the 1v1 competitors? 

Yes, there is! Every 1v1 pro is able to control one player in a 11v11 

match really good. 

My go to players this year have been TOTY Cristiano Ronaldo and 

TOTS Neymar! 

How have you been preparing for London and is it the 

same as any tournament you enter? 

But not every 11v11 pro is able to control 10 players at the same time 

in a 1v1 match really good. 

What is your views on FIFA 19 from what you have 

seen so far? 

My grind for London started in July as I’m trying to get back 

into rhythm from a three week break by playing other pros and 

Weekend League! Playing against pros is the best preparation. 

I think the new gameplay features will be very nice. I’m looking 

forward the most to seeing how timed finishing will work 

in-game! EWF 


Esports World Football 

9

If you were to start a revolution with the aim of changing 

FIFA what would you most want to change and why? 

I’ve already started a revolution, we will not have another year like this 

I’m sure of that. There’s a lot of things I want changing but if I had to 

pick one it would be to have fun, fast and responsive gameplay. 

Do you think competitive FIFA is getting to political? 

I wouldn’t say that no. 

For us players its really simple: if you’re good enough you will qualify 

to events and subsequently receive offers to represent teams. 

On the other hand yes, there are people within the scene who have a 

certain influence that have no idea what’s best for competitive FIFA. 

You rage quit at the recent FIFA eClub World Cup, why? 

Well yes, it’s not just that I conceded 3 kick off goals, it’s the way the 

whole game went. With all due respect to my opponent he had no 

right even being on the same pitch as me and something that is out 

of control ends up costing me the title. 

Although contrary to popular belief I did actually end up sitting back 

down and “finishing” the game! 

Do you think your actions will make a difference, 

would you do it again? 

Yes, as I said earlier, I have kick-started a revolution, unfortunately I’m 

the only one in the scene who has the balls to stand up for what is 

right so yes I would 100 percent do it again. 

ON THE SPOT 

KURT ‘KURT 0411’ FENECH


You say you’re going to London not just to win but to 

end careers, any players in particular, or just anyone 

who gets in your way? 

Anyone that gets in my way. 

What’s your view on the Pro Club scene? 

How have you been preparing for London? 

I have spent a bit of time playing other pro’s and top players in 

practice games to get ready for London. 

As the best who would you say is the second best 

FIFA player? 

I’m sure a lot of them enjoy virtually representing Real Madrid to 

virtually win the Champions League but its not for 

me unfortunately 

Impossible to tell this year. EWF 

Is there a difference in skill level between pro club 

gamers and the 1v1 competitors or is it just different? 

Night and day. I could assemble a team of pro’s to take on their best 

11 and we’ll send them from virtually representing Real Madrid to 

Eibar real quickly. Whereas if they come over to my world it will be 

the last game of FIFA they will ever play. 

In the upcoming World Cup you are one of the 

favourites, who do you see as your main competition? 

MegaBit, Dossary and Gorilla. 


Unique and unmatchable. I don’t have to abuse any of the game’s flaws 

to be successful while the rest of them have no choice but to, to survive. 

Who are your go to players in your FUT team? 

Both Ronaldo’s and Sergio Ramos. 

I don’t have to abuse any of 

the game’s flaws to be 

successful while the rest 

of them have no choice 

Self professed ‘Demi-God’ Kurt0411 

discusses rage quitting, the eWorld Cup 

and the ability to smash Pro Clubs at will 



11

An 

underdog 

story 

Luke ‘Crafty’ Craft 

When it comes to competition we all love a 

good underdog story. Luke ‘Crafty’ Craft’s, 

aim at the start of this year was to make an 

event. He ended up getting T16 in Barcelona, 

T32 in Manchester and T16 in Amsterdam. 

Can the man from Cornwall walk away 

from London and finish the year as the 2018 

eWorld Cup champion? 


BY CHRIS LAFFERTY 

How excited are you about playing at the FIFA eWorld Cup? 

I’m very excited to be playing at the FIFA eWorld Cup grand final, as 

it’s by far the most important tournament I’ve played in. 

Can you tell us about your journey to the eWorld Cup 

and how you got there? 

My journey to the eWorld Cup was good fun and qualifying for the 

play offs through the last chance weekend was the most nervous I’ve 

been the whole year playing FIFA. 

How are you preparing for the tournament? 

I’m preparing the same as the other events, just playing my mates 

and pros when I can. 

Qualifying for the play offs 

through the last chance weekend 

was the most nervous I’ve been 

the whole year 

The group you have drawn is full of some big names is that 

daunting or does it spur you on to prove how good you are? 

The group definitely is a bit daunting, but I play best when I feel 

there’s no pressure on me, so hopefully I can do well. 

Who is your main competition in the tournament? 

He’s not really my competition, but I’d like to get a win against Raseck. 


I don’t really have a set style of play to be honest; I just try to do 

whatever works in that game. 

The Germans have plenty of qualifiers can you bring 

it home for England? 

Yeah it would be nice for a English player to win the event, could 

be tough with the amount of Germans. EWF 

The group definitely is 

a bit daunting, but I play 

best when I feel there’s no 

pressure on me 


13

FIFA 19 

MICHAEL LABELLE 

NEW YORK RED BULLS 

With FIFA 19 on the horizon Esports World Football 

took time out to speak with New York Red Bull 

athlete and YouTube sensation Michael LaBelle. 

The Houston native gave us his final assessment 

on FIFA 18 and told us what he is expecting from 

FIFA 19 on its official release.

BY CHRIS LAFFERTY 

TALKS FIFA 19 

“I’m looking forward to making sure we 

push the culture forward.” 

Having played FIFA 18 over the past year 

what’s your final assessment of it? 

On a personal level what would you like to 

see in FIFA 19? 

FIFA 18 lacks the skill gaps necessary for true eSports in my opinion. I’m 

very curious to see what happens with FIFA 19, because EA is pushing 

the eSports initiative heavily since the announcement of FIFA Ultimate 

Team Champions. I hope that EA can master the art of balance with 

next year’s title. 

Does FIFA get better each year, or is there a 

particular year that really stood out for you? 

I’m a gameplay enthusiast. I still have a lot of love for some of the 

faster paced titles, even though they weren’t the most realistic 

simulations. 

I still remember playing FIFA 2008 for countless hours, because that 

title was the first time we saw “TRUE SKILL MOVES” and in more 

recent time, FIFA 15 WAS AMAZING! 

Very fast paced with a lot of action and the ability to score beautiful 

goals in each match. 

As a YouTube star will you be getting an 

early copy of FIFA 19? 

I doubt I will get FIFA 19 earlier than the rest of the world, however I 

was able to capture footage from the EA capture event last year prior 

to the launch, but I didn’t have the title at home ahead of time. 

What do you expect from FIFA 19 

Weekend league extension. Larger skill gaps . New matchmaking 

A weekday league. New skill moves. To name a few 

How long does it take for you to master 

FIFAhen the latest edition comes out? 

Every title is different. I would say most professional players start to 

show promise in the 1st month after launch. But the word “MASTER” 

is very specific. I would expect professional players to need a few 

months to truly master gameplay. 

Out of all the new features revealed by EA 

Sports what one are you forward to using the 

most? 

It’s so hard to judge gameplay until you get to LAUNCH! So… the 

announcement of the Champions League is the BIG MOVE so far in 

my opinion. 

If you were a developer at EA Sports what 

would you implement into the game? 

Obviously, my opinion is biased, but I would be restructuring the 

qualifying format for competitive events. The weekend league 

needs an overhaul. More time. Matchmaking improvements and 

a secondary qualification system. 

What plans have you got for the future? 

I’m expecting some changes regarding the competitive game modes 

and of course we have the announcement confirming Champions 

League in FIFA 19. 

I’m looking forward to making sure we push the culture forward. I’ve 

always used my voice to help players get better and develop Esports 

in the FIFA world. Expect to see more of the same! EWF 



15

THE VFL 

Aaron Baker discusses the progress of The Virtual 

Football League in the Pro Club community and 

getting the game mode more exposure. 

Tell us about the VFL? 

The Virtual Football League (VFL) was formed by a close friend of 

mine Ryan Gobble and myself way back during FIFA 12. I believe it 

was around March time when the game was just entering that phase 

of not really offering much, and we thought, yeah, this idea will make 

it interesting. 

We took motivation from what sites like FVPAA were doing in 

America, we added our own twist to it and launched a free basic 

website literally the night after talking about it. It seems so long 

ago, but there we were at all hours messaging our recent players, 

explaining this concept to them, the concept of this ‘online career 

mode’ that we wanted to do, and people bought into it. 

I think we look back and say that we were lucky in a sense. We were the 

first people to do this in the UK, and because of that it was new, fresh, 

and the Pro Clubs community (which was tiny back then) got involved. 

thankfully due to our awesome outreach and community, that 

number continues to grow every day. 

It covers both leading consoles, Xbox One and PS4. Xbox 360 

is where we originally started, so that is naturally bigger with 12 

divisions, while PS4 VFL was formed in 2015 and sits at 8 divisions. 

Team wise combined we’re roughly at around 400 teams and this 

has been a fairly stable number for us. We could go higher and really 

push it, but for us it’s not about a number, it’s about the stability, the 

quality, and many more underlying factors. I think that’s showcased 

by our management selection process. In terms of countries, VFL 

is mostly scaled towards Europeans, and most commonly players 

within the UK. We’re in talks for some exciting American expansion 

during FIFA 19, but it’s still early days so can’t comment too much. 

How long does a season last? Talk us through it. 

A season typically for us lasts around five weeks, but of course for 

the admin team, the fun never really stops due to the amount of 

stuff we have to do behind the curtain. In terms of how it works, I’ll 

assume you mean from the perspective of a player. 

To answer the question though, in terms of what VFL is, just imagine 

a system where you build up your own story, where you decide if you 

want to play for your favourite team like VFL Everton, or if you want 

to work your way up from the lower leagues and teams, to eventually 

compete in the Champions League with a club like VFL Real Madrid. 

From a contract system, to a transfer system, we pretty much have 

as much as we can involve to create as much of an immersive 

experience as we can for the players. 

How big has it become? 

So the season will kick off on a set date which is picked out by 

the admins, fixtures will be populated and then appear for the 

players via our web app, and from there, it’s all about team prep 

for our managers. Games for us are on Friday, Saturday, and 

Sunday (with cup games on a Wednesday), so when those days 

come, the teams will use the app to know who they’re playing 

and at what time, initiate communication with the other team’s 

manager, and at that set time on the day invite them to play. 

After that, stats are collected by managers, put into our app, and 

voila, that’s a game done. 

Fantastic question. We currently have had 122,660 sign-ups, but as 

we reject duplicate accounts, banned player accounts, and regularly 

keep the site clean and trim, we sit at 58,583 live players. However, 

That system pretty much repeats itself for four domestic league 

weeks, with each team in the division playing each other once (or 

twice in some of the smaller leagues). After that initial four week 



period, we have one extra week for our European knockout games, 

like the Champions League Round of 16 etc. 

In between and after that, you have all sorts of events, stuff 

like the VFL transfer window which allows clubs to use budget 

earned through high finishes and cup wins to buy and sell 

players to other teams as they please. You also have stuff like 

contract renegotiations where managers will try and tie down 

their players to another season at the club before they drop into 

free agency and have the ability to play elsewhere. There really 

is a lot! 

How do you differ from other virtual leagues? 

The biggest and most obvious difference between VFL and other 

leagues out there is the day and time structure. For us, we’ve been 

running the Friday-Saturday-Sunday pattern since 2012. People know 

us and identify with us for that and we’ve never had a problem, so we 

are essentially the heavyweight that anchors those days. 

Other leagues, whether that be the big supported ones like VFO, 

or the international ones like EGN and FVPAA have structured 

themselves to be mid-week to suit their community and their 

demographic, which is awesome because all of these leagues offer 

something different, and cater to specific needs. I am happy to say I 

have a great relationship with all of them. 

Other than the different days, times, and community, there really are 

very minor differences other than that, one noticeable one being the 

custom team name platform, but alas, a lot of leagues like FVPAA 

and ourselves tend to do a mixture of both. For example, the FVPAA 

will offer the ACL and AVL, the ACL is what they use for their actual 

club names, and the AVL is what they use for fantasy. Much the 

same where VFL is used for stuff like VFL Arsenal, and VFLC is used 

for stuff like Wonderkids, Lucid, et etc. 

Do you have any real football clubs entering teams 

into your leagues? How close do the real football 

clubs work with esports teams? 

Obviously due to agreements, I cannot say too much on this. I have 

been flown out to countries before to discuss the whole possibility of 

this type of thing, I’ve also had meetings with certain football clubs, 

including two within the Premier League. 

The thing that I will say, and that the community probably won’t like, 

is that the talks although interesting never came to fruition either due 

to frustration on my end, or demands from the club. 

For me, esports is still a relatively new ideology for people within 

corporates. I think everyone knows that. For me, I see no real benefit 

at all to players and the Pro Clubs community as a whole when the 

clubs say that they have no interest to really identify with the players, 

and it’s all purely about their brand exposure. I can understand that 

from a business perspective if it was Fifa Ultimate Team (FUT), but 

Clubs is still so relatively unknown that you can’t honestly look at it 

and say “Pro Clubs will expose this brand”. 

That idea will only occur when EA seriously get involved with it. 

I could talk about this for hours because I feel so strongly about 

it. But for me, I want to make decisions for my community that 

make sense. Players representing a ‘club’ that does not offer a 

lot, and doesn’t want to get to know their players or even have 

a detailed system to assist in picking players. This just doesn’t 

interest me, nor do I see any benefit for the players, whether that 

be financial benefit or the benefit of building a career off of the 

back of it through platforms like YouTube. An example of when it’s 

done properly could be Optic, all you have to do is look how that 

organisation pushed someone like Scumpi to the point where he 

has a big YouTube platform. That isn’t what it’s like right now from 

the football clubs. 

There are some outliers though, for example, what VFO have in place 

with clubs in Spain where the players may get a stadium tour of the 

club that signs them, or a free shirt/tickets to a game, that is brilliant. 

In the UK, the closest we have to that currently is Fleetwood Town, 

and the only reason I say that is because a guy like Sam Fielding 

actually does care enough to put in a system where he talks to the 

players, he doesn’t just brush off the recruitment and whoever joins 

joins, he is actually very involved, and he should be proud of himself 

for that, a lot of clubs could learn from that. 

What cup competitions do you run? 

Currently we have the below list as active cup competitions; 

• The VFL FA Cup 

• The VFL Carabao Cup 

• The VFL Checkatrade Trophy 

• The VFL DfB Pokal 

• The VFL Coppa Italia 

• The VFL Copa del Rey 

• The VFL Coupe de France 

• The VFL Coupe de la Ligue 

• The VFL Europa League 

• The VFL Champions League 

Of course, there are others like the Community Shield etc etc, but 

these are the domestic cup competitions which run throughout and 

stretch throughout the entire season. 

What does the future hold for the VFL? 

The future is something that depends upon the direction of FIFA and 

EA. It really is that simple, for all we know, EA could introduce a 5v5 

FIFA Street mode, if they do, that’d be a great direction to go down on 

top of 11v11. But honestly, as gaming communities we take it year by 


17

THE VFL 

year as for a strategic plan due to the lack of communication EA has 

with the FIFA community. 

Ideally, 11v11 is still the game mode of Pro Clubs in FIFA 19 and 

beyond and we can continue to build on what we have now, but 

honestly, it really does depend on what they do. 

Do the leagues have sponsors? 

The VFL overall is sponsored by CardsPlug which is a fantastic 

custom FUT card delivery service. Other than that, my guys over at 

VFLC (most notable Dave Skinner) have some great ties to Gfinity 

and has some exciting stuff in the pipeline which we can’t speak 

about at this moment in time. 

The most important thing to us about ‘sponsors’ is just making sure 

the fit is right and that it puts enough shine on the game mode. 

There have been opportunities in the past where I could have 

slapped something on VFL and made a really nice return financially, 

but I never did it because it just wouldn’t give enough shine to Pro 

Clubs in general. That’s the aim for me, pushing to make this game 

mode known, and with that, every decision has to be viewed in that 

strategic direction. 

How do you compare 11v11 to 1v1 gaming? 

I think both are fantastic in my honest opinion. You’ll have the elitist 

that will bash one and praise the other, but both are their own separate 

crafts. You have fantastic and talented guys like Shellz who are absolute 

monsters at both, but in all honesty, you can’t compare the two. 

For both, you need determination, willpower, and intelligence to 

play and get through the grind. But for me personally, I love team 

sports, I grew up playing team sports, and I love that whole element 

of 11v11 where you learn your teammates, you gain a chemistry 

and you see continuous strides in improvement month on month (if 

you’re doing it properly). 

Regardless though, both great, and both have their individual pros 

and cons for sure. 

Some gamers have been rather outspoken about the 

skill gap comparing Pro Club to Solo— what is your 

view on this? 

I think regarding this, it’s mostly ignorance from the solo community, 

because you’ll never see anybody from the world of Pro Clubs speak 

badly about the guys playing FUT. For the most part, the guys on 

Clubs respect the hustle and the fact those guys are playing a game 

and can forge a career out of an EA supported mode. Why? Because 

it’s something that we as an 11v11 community crave. 

back in the old days of FIFA. That’s just part and parcel in modern day 

gaming because companies want their game to be able to be picked 

up and played by anyone. To say that it takes skill to play one game 

mode over the other is preposterous. 

The only thing for my personal opinion that I see is the artificial 

intelligence assistance on FUT. You have the ability to sit off and 

let the computer defend for you at times, whereas on Clubs, playing 

11v11 there is nowhere to hide, if you have a weak link at RB you’re 

going to know at some point in the game that the weak link exists, 

does that make sense? 

Regardless, I respect both game modes, and I do very much think 

that regardless of logistics and regardless of expenses for the 

company, 11v11 gaming will be an esport soon. All it needs is that 

one push from EA and it will explode. 

What would you like FIFA to do to improve? 

Where do I begin? There is so much! 

I think what everyone will say in general is to start with is the 

gameplay. For me, FIFA 18 strikes me as a game that tried too hard 

to be the entertaining eSport game. Attacking became extremely 

easy, and that (in my opinion) was to try and make FUT tournaments 

more exciting, but in reality, all we got was a bunch of 6-4 games, 

5-3 games, etc etc. We want the focus and tactics of football back 

where you grind and work for a result, rather than seeing 200 goals 

per game. 

Beyond that, you look at the silly stuff that still exists today. Referees 

having multi-coloured arms and no face. The issue of goal posts just 

being randomly pushed 10 yards back, or just not being on the pitch 

at all. The issue of stuff like the Pro Clubs skill progression just being 

broke for seven months. So so much man, honestly. 

The important thing though for the Clubs community is common 

sense fixes. By that, I mean that issues that were present at the start 

of FIFA 18 for Clubs needs to be patched, issues like the friendly 

glitch that halted leagues all over the globe for several months. 

I honestly believe that 90 percent of the Pro Clubs community would 

be happy if FIFA 19 was a gameplay tweak, with friendlies working 

off the bat, a bit more detailed kit customisation and a bit of a 

revamp on the Pro Clubs skill tree again. 

Will we see micro-transactions in Pro Clubs? 

I think it would be big to get the game mode more exposure, but for 

now I honestly can’t see it being a big necessity that EA do. However 

I think it does need to happen eventually. 

I can see both points of view for this ‘skill gap’, but in honest reality, 

there hasn’t been a real skill gap in FIFA for years, I’m probably talking 

But yeah, for me, gameplay fixes, friendly fixes, tweaks to the skill 

tree, and kit customisation and I’ll be a happy man until FIFA 20. EWF 


The Toffees on PS4 

Esports World Footballs caught up with Jamie 

March (MarchyyFIFA) and James Wood 

(Jwoody25ns), co-managers of the PS4 team VFL 

Everton to discuss the upcoming season, recent 

trials and their future aims. 

Tell us about the team? 

Having been involved with a number of VFL teams after 

leaving VFL Liverpool James Wood (Jwoody25ns) and myself 

(MarchyyFIFA) got the opportunity to take on the role of 

developing VFL Everton into a force in the Premier League! 

Which of the VFL leagues do you currently play in? 

What has been the biggest challenge you have 

faced so far as a team? 

Coming up against the likes of VFL Man City who are the best 

team on the PS4 side winning every trophy possible last season. 

Almost like in the real Premier League. 

Who do you rate as the best player in your side? 

It’s hard to say because we all play together, as a team! So it’s 

more of 11 best players instead of 1. 

How about what the most crucial position to have a 

strong player in is? 

We currently play in the PS4 Premier League. 

How did the last season go? 

The old manager did pretty well, took the club to 4th in the PS4 

Premier League, runners up in the FA cup and Semi Finalists in the 

Europa League. So a lot to live up to. 

What was the level of competition like? 

Very tough. Any one of six or seven teams are good enough to 

win this league so it makes for a very exciting upcoming season. 

You chose the VFL over VPG and other formats, why? 

Our defence, to win games it starts from the back, you are not 

going to lose if you don’t let any goals in. 

What formation do you prefer and why? 

4-2-3-1 Is our favoured formation. It just allows us to be narrow 

defending and then counter attack when we have the ball using 

the width stretching their defence. 

What is the best team you have faced? 

Domestically VFL Man City and in Europe VFL Real Madrid 

How far do you think your team can go? 

I just find the VFL more competitive in the sense that you can 

control the club you support using real life clubs and taking them 

to the top, in what many like me see as the most competitive 

weekend league in competitive Pro Clubs. 

Who are your closest rivals? 

Everyone, we want to beat everyone equally as much. It has not 

quite got to the level where we have such strong rivalry as real 

football yet. 

If we continue with our strong recruitment I’m sure we’ll be a 

tough side to face. 

What can the VFL do to develop the game further? 

To be honest it’s a hard one, these days everyone looks to 

compete with each other, VFL is different to VPG and any other 

league, VPG is mainly midweek, but they now have a weekend 

League but it’s no where near as big or as competitive as the VFL 

is. So VFL is the place to be! EWF 


VFL BOURNEMOUTH 

eCherries 

Esports World Football’s Justin Lawson caught up with Daniel 

Hurtig aka Mokum031, manager of VFL Bournemouth, to talk 

season 34 of the VFL, recent trials and their future plans 

The ‘real’ football club was formed in 1890 as Boscombe St. 

John’s Institute FC, they disbanded in 1899 and from the remains 

of that club, Boscombe FC were formed at a meeting under the 

streetlights in Gladstone Road, Boscombe. 

computers would exist yet alone an online team called 

VFL Bournemouth. 

Are there any links with the real football team? 

The club went through further transition and only adopted their 

current name in 1972. Who back then would have thought 

The team was founded by the Virtual Football League (VFL) and 

we unfortunately have no link to the real football club. 



Which of the VFL leagues do you currently play in 

and how did the last season go? 

How do you select players when it comes 

to trials? 

We play in the Championship. 

Bournemouth had a tough season and finished 17th or 

something like that. I was not the manager of the team last 

season as I was co-manager at Liverpool. 

Is it a highly competitive league? 

I have recruited some players which I know and I have brought 

them into the squad, we played together in Swansea back in s32 

when I was their manager. I look for experienced players with 

good personalities that will fit into our squad nicely. 

How about what the most crucial position to have a strong 

player in is? 

Yes it is, the Championship is a very competitive league, 

there are some good teams in our league and some good 

players as well. 

Thats a very good question, I think you have to have decent players in all 

positions really, and then you have to learn to play together, we believe 

we are a team and not 11 egos and work hard on our team play. 

You have to have decent players in all 

positions really, and then you have to 

learn to play together, we believe we 

are a team and not 11 egos 

VFL over VPG why is that? 


VFL , I like the fact that we are playing with ”real” Clubs, like 

Bournemouth, Liverpool, Real Madrid and so on. 

I have played VPG as well but I prefer VFL, I think its better organised, 

and in my opinion it also has a better online home page. 

What is likely to be the biggest challenge you 

will face? 

We are trying to get the team together and build chemistry, and 

that can be a challenge. 

We are very optimistic that the more we play together the more we 

will develop it. 

4-2-3-1 narrow, we play this as it offers both width when needed 

and the ability to play narrow with two holding CDM’s to help out 

when defending. Its an good all round formation. 


I think we can win the league this season. We are certainly going to go for it! 


I am not sure, I think they are doing a good job to be honest. 

I think they are doing VFL better and better every new season 

with some small upgrades and tweaks to keep it improving after 

responding to feedback. EWF 


21

VFL FLEETWOOD TOWN 

Cod Army on the march 

How did you come to run VFL Fleetwood Town? 

I took a break from VFL after getting banned from ‘Bottling 

Management’, after this, I was introduced to VFL Cadiz and made 

two appearances, scoring one goal in the Champions League. 

A few months later, Admin ‘Gringo’ put his faith in me to succeed 

and I was given a management opportunity again. 

Is the championship league a highly competitive 

league? And is there a team you hate playing? 

It is a highly competitive league because of the standards people 

set in their teams including ours, people would give anything to 

get promoted on this site. By far the English leagues are the most 

challenging with loads of experienced players. There are teams 

I hate playing purely because the cup draw has given us Premier 

League teams in the past, and they’re at the top end of the site, 

tough, tough opponents to play against, no matter what team. 

How did the last season go for the team? 

Last season was season 33, a challenging time for me and the players. 

We eventually finished 16th in the league. The top scorer I Mac 7 I shined 

for us, scoring 24 goals, not to mention the fine shot stopper vF Connor. 

A tricky season, we aimed for play-off spots but the class of other 

teams took the wind out of our sails. Now this season we are 

hopefully going to achieve our goals. 

VFL over VPG why is that? 

Never really heard of VPG until YouTuber WorldOfJCC started 

playing for Fleetwood eSports. 



I was introduced mainly to VFL by my friends telling me to join a 

club and make an account. 

Also, VFL has that certain buzz about it, for example, training 

before a VFL game gets intense and everybody is focused on the 

task ahead. 

What has been the biggest challenge you have 

faced so far as a team? 

The biggest challenge I’d say is that we always come up against 

hard teams in our league, and friendlies aren’t exactly easy 

depending on who you come up against. 

We try our hardest at all times but you just can’t win everything. 

Also, one of the toughest challenges has to be handling expectation, 

we’ve tried to be ambitious for the past two seasons but we haven’t 

succeeded quite as well as we’d liked to, staying up in our league is a 

big bonus for me. 

would normally reply with their position, age, etc. then we’d set up 

a trialling session with those players involved. 


We normally experiment with formations and see what fits us 

best, but now we are sticking to a 4-4-1-1 formation because 

we believe the CAM and the wingers can provide enough 

service to the striker, also the trickery on both flanks helps 

when you have clever players who can manoeuvre the ball 

efficiently, coming inside and switching up the passes on the 

pitch is crucial for me. We also look to have a solid back line, and 

with our experienced defenders, we hopefully can achieve this. 

Can you reach the top flight? Get a spot in Europe? 

With enough guile and determination, we can hopefully reach play-off 

spots and get that promotion dream going, and look forward to season 

35 on FIFA 19. 

The real life version of VFL Fleetwood Town is managed by the cross 

between a maverick and lunatic Joey Barton. The far more sedate Eddie 

Carter, manager of VFL’s eSports team, speaks about its last season 

Tell us about your end of season awards and who 

one what? 

At the end of season 33, we had select individual awards 

which were given to the players who rightly 

deserved them. 

I will start off with I Mac 7 I who won top scorer with 24 goals, 

secondly, most assists is Carter I 10 I with 15 assists, thirdly, 

the best defender award went to Tmoneycombs. vF Connor also 

grabbed Clubs golden glove award with 122 saves alongside 

Hammerheadboy6 who won the clubs’ best midfielder award. 

How do you select players when it comes to trials? 

Normally, if we had vacant positions open in the team because 

of sales, we’d put a trialling thread up with the positions, people 

Getting a spot in Europe is a big task but you can never say never, 

we’ve seen this before though, it’ll take true quality. 


Well, I wouldn’t say they should try to associate themselves with 

EA, because VFL has always been a separate community, and for 

me, I’d like it to stay that way. 

When new FIFA’s come out and more new features come out on 

pro clubs, I’m hoping the VFL can utilise these different features in 

different ways. 

To conclude, VFL is a fantastic platform for anyone looking to get 

competitive and meet new people online. 

Skill is also a must, it is getting harder and harder out there. EFW 


23

Farmers 

Sowing the seeds of greatness 

Tell us about how the team came about and who 

chose the name? 

The team came about from me and a few mates, and we just made a 

normal FIFA18 pro clubs team called “English Farmers”. 

It was going well and George and myself thought we could take it 

to VPG so we talked to the owner and he gave us the team called 

“Farmers eSports” 

Last season which VPG league were you in and how 

did the team perform? 

Last season we got entered in to the lowest league in VPG called the 

Global League 1. We had a lot of ups and downs from back to back 

5-0 losses at the start of the season, to beating top of the league who 

were undefeated 4-2. That pretty much sums up how our season went. 

We came 7th joint on points with 5th. If we were more consistent I 

believe we could have reached the promotion places. 

And which league are you competing in next season 

and why the change? 

We are competing in the English L4 North. The change happened 

because VPG has adjusted it’s league structure, which in my opinion 

is for the better. The way it works now is it goes from the bottom, L6 

all the way to the top of the eSports Prem. Our goal eventually is to 

get into the Esports Prem. 

What is the standard of opposition like? 

The standard of the opposition we played during last season was a 

weird one. A few potentially amazing teams and there were a few we 

lost and drew to where we felt we should of done a lot better. The 

Global League 1 was a strange but fun league. 

Why did you choose the VPG over VFL and other formats? 

I personally chose VPG over VFL as it gives you a chance to grow as 

a brand for the future to come and it is run very well. 

VFL was one of the first competitive leagues I played in and back 

then it was by far the biggest. However in my opinion VPG has 

grown hugely and moved onto another level and it continues 

to grow. 

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced 

so far as a team? 

The biggest challenge for sure was a huge disagreement with the 

co-founder George Burton. 

There was a period where we had a lot of players which can 

be good and bad. He felt at the time that there was to much 

squad rotation, whereas I felt towards the end of the season the 

rotation of players and the opportunity to try new things should 

be explored. This leads to the formation of the academy team so 

everyone gets to play. 



Kaden FM manager of the Farmers VPG eSports team 

discusses how the newly formed team coped on their debut 

season and plans for future domination. 

Tell us about the decision to launch an academy team? 


The decision to launch an academy team was easy. George and 

myself spoke about the idea and we were happy it would benefit all. 

A few players who didn’t get enough game time will move out of the 

first team into the academy team giving them more game time and 

the chance to improve and help make that team successful as well. 

This also gives us the room in the first team to look to recruit some 

high quality replacements. 


I don’t really have a favourite formation. I like 3-5-2 however on FIFA 

it’s a whole different story. 4-3-3 attack. If done right is what we’re 

planning on next season as it’s effective and suits our play style. It 

gives the wingers options to cut back and pass it to there CMS Or 

CAMS or to get in a hopeful cross to our ST who can also hold up the 

ball for runners. 

What is the best team you have faced? 

We believe our team can climb all the way to the top of VPG. I think 

if you start something, you gotta aim for the top. We’re planning 

on staying as a team for a very long time, as long is everyone is 

committed and it ran smoothly. 

How would you like to see VPG develop? 

I want to see VPG develop lots of live esports events. I think 11 people 

vs 11 people would be more entertaining to watch than 1 pro player vs 

another. Of course all 22 players can’t go to the event so maybe 2 or 3 

from each team could go whilst the rest stay at home. I’d also like to see 

VPG Working with some official football clubs. We already have a few 

and I’d love to see them work with a Premier League team. For them 

to continue getting more people involved in Pro Clubs and for VPG to 

expand there individual leagues as well would make it even better. 

Recently I had a go at FIFA and lost 1-0 to my 8yr old. What 

tips can you give me and any new players to the game? 

There’s a lot of teams I’ve played which are amazing in a few other 

teams I’ve been in. But the best team we have played as Farmers 

eSports manager, was top of the league “FifaSlovenjia” who stepped 

down mid season. They were a very good Passing side. We won 4-2 

at home where we defended very well and hit them on the break. 

We lost 3-1 away after going 1-0 up, we let them cut us apart with 

their passing from then on. 

The way I got better was just years of playing FIFA and gradually 

learning different things. I’ve played from FIFA 08 all the way till now. 

That’s 10 years. Of course there’s quicker ways to get better, by 

watching pro players where esports has grown into Ultimate team. 

Tips and trick videos could help as well. Pro clubs believe me or not 

has helped as well, where you learn different set piece tactics and 

also to learn to play with individual players properly. The way I’ve 

learned FIFA is just from playing for ages. EWF 


25

DIRTY 30 

Cool AF name and can they play 

How did the team come about and how did you end 

up running it? 

The team name came about because of what the manager of VFL 

Watford did: it was a dirty trick. 

I was promised by the VFL Watford manager that I could take 

over management at the end of Season 33. 

When that time came along I re-signed the best players from the 

season that had just ended, and looked to add some defensive 

players to strengthen the team. 

I took my time getting players in with trial matches, but, two 

weeks later, the manager said he’s not giving me the managers job 

and that he was staying on in the role. He even told me he wanted 

to keep the team that I had recruited. 

It’s an understatement to say I was gutted, but the lads I got 

in were brilliant and we all agreed to leave VFL Watford and 

have a mess around team until FIFA 19 comes out and try again 

then. Next thing you know I was messaging the Virtual Pro 

Gaming (VPG) admin to see if they could add my team to the 

VPG site. 

How has the debut season started? 

Our debut season for Dirty 30 has started off really well. We won 

our first three games and we were sitting on top of the table. I say 

were—we just lost to the Cherries. 

One loss in four is not bad and hopefully we can get back on track 

with a win to get back on top. 

Which of the VPG leagues do you currently play in 

and what are your squad goals for this season? 

We play in VPG North L2. Our squad goals for this season are 

simple—winning the league or play off. But we will take any loss like 

a team and come back stronger and win like a team. 



With one of the most lit names in FIFA VPG, Dirty 30’s manager Ste Skilling 

talks L2 North, the team’s debut season and squad goals 

Is it a highly competitive league? Is there a team 

you hate playing? 

Yes it is highly competitive. As for a team we hate playing: the 

Cherries. Their manager was messaging me non-stop after the 

win. I know we’re a good team when we get that—he’s buzzing that 

his team beat us, so you’ve got to feel a little happy for them too. 

That bit was a joke we don’t feel happy for them at all and we will 

get our revenge! 

What was is biggest challenge you have faced so far 

in your debut season? 

What a tense match that was well played by Ice eSports, they gave us 

a run for our money. 

How do you improve the chemistry in the team? 

I didn’t want to be the only voice in the team I like to let the 

team have their say and tactics to work on. We all help each 

other out and share our opinions on tactics. We’ve gotta be 

confident with our teammates around us and that just comes 

with spending time on the pitch together and getting to know 

the lads you play with. 


Our biggest challenge was definitely the match against Ice 

eSports, we were sitting in 1st with them in 2nd and we had to 

get the win in this match. The game went back and forth for 90 

minutes, we got a free kick right outside the box Andy passed the 

ball to Maverick who crossed the ball. Mikey headed in giving us 

the 90th minute winner. 

The formation we play with is the 1-3-2-4. 

We like to have our three attacking players with a top CAM, who 

can find any of the three with the top CDM dropping back to give 

the FB more freedom to roam the wings and give us more options 

in the attack. EWF 


27

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