Thursday night saw the highly anticipated E-League draft take place ahead of the competition’s second season.
Melbourne Victory, Brisbane Roar and Melbourne City announced some of their signings before the draft, leaving the field wide open for clubs to make their signings as they look to dethrone reigning Premiers, Sydney FC.
Here it is!
All 30 competitors who will take part in #ELeague Season 2!
Re-live all the action here: https://t.co/WG90q8B8ge pic.twitter.com/Qo51LIbWgl
— E-League (@ELeagueAus) January 31, 2019
Re-watch the whole draft below!
This year sees an extra player being included in each squad. Whereas last year had only an Xbox and PS4 player, clubs will now have a reserve in their squads.
With the competition kicking off on February 21 to coincide with the last nine rounds of the Hyundai A-League, we give you a club-by-club rundown of all the action.
Adelaide United
Fan favourite Jamie O’Doherty (FUTWIZ Jamie) returns for the Reds for another season, playing in their Xbox stream and looking to add to Adelaide’s fifth-placed finish from last year.
United will have a new PS4 player, with Rick Trann (RickTran_) replacing Zac-May Burgess (vDreaMz–Shooter) who will be the Reds’ reserve.
As revealed on the @ELeagueAus
Live Draft, the boys are back! And this time they've brought a mate… #AUFC #ELeague@JamieODoherty@ZacMayburgess@ricktran__📰 Read more: https://t.co/QAz3VuikRM pic.twitter.com/iWQBNyEccc
— Adelaide United (@AdelaideUnited) January 31, 2019
Brisbane Roar
Dylan Banks (AussieFifa) will don Roar’s orange for Season Two of the E-League, signed earlier for their PS4 slot.
While Andy Phanouvong (Akpo) will play Xbox for the Roar, joining a host of new faces in this year’s E-League.
The Roar have waived their pick for a reserve, opting to host a tournament on February 8 to fill their final slot.
🎮 Our third @ELeagueAus Season 2 player will be selected at our home game @suncorpstadium on Friday, 8 February. #RoarAsOne
— Brisbane Roar FC (@brisbaneroar) January 31, 2019
Central Coast Mariners
Jesse Da Silva (JesseD) joins Kiran Gupta (Kyren) at the Central Coast Mariners off the back of an impressive first season for the Gosford-based outfit.
Matthew Camilleri (Strawhat Camels) returns, though this Season he will feature as a reserve.
TFW you pick up a new mate but you call shotgun and he has to sit in the back… 💪🏼 #ELeague #CCMFC pic.twitter.com/2qGEBrbivi
— Central Coast Mariners (@CCMariners) January 31, 2019
Melbourne City
Fans have put big expectations on Melbourne City.
The side have signed Peter Saisanas (saisanas) from Perth Glory for their PS4 slot, while Marcus Gomes (Marcus) returns, now ranked 10th in the world.
Storm Noa (Storm Noa), the 14th pick, joins the club as the reserve.
Welcome to @saisanasp who will be our #PS4 competitor for the @ELeagueAus Season 2! #WelcomeSaisanas pic.twitter.com/KC0cN9NR1C
— Melbourne City FC (@MelbourneCity) January 31, 2019
Melbourne Victory
Across town, Mouad Zwed (Mo Zwed) has re-signed for Melbourne Victory, joined by Sarge Singh (SARGE) as his new Xbox teammate.
Ben Carter (EpicFlyer010) rounds out their squad as the reserve.
https://twitter.com/MouadZwed/status/1090862089436946432
Newcastle Jets
Christian Bartiollo (Fweshest) will be representing the Jets this year in the PS4 stream, having played for Wellington last year.
His Xbox teammate is Liz Varley (N8 Liz) who becomes the first ever female competitor in the E-League.
Bohdan Ling (BLFIFA) will be Newcastle’s reserve.
We've pinched a player from across the ditch, and signed Australia's first and only female professional @EASPORTSFIFAANZ player for this season's @ELeagueAUS campaign! #MadeOfNewcastle
🎮 https://t.co/AjFCrKbphb pic.twitter.com/a4S7vwelwJ
— NEWCASTLE JETS FC ✈️ (@NewcastleJetsFC) January 31, 2019
Perth Glory
Glory have signed local lad Adrian Klein (StridentCorn) for their E-League PS4 player, who will partner David Cook (N8 HighFly).
This is Cook’s second season, while Zach Macgregor (zacmac99) is a fresh face to the league.
Drafted!
We've claimed WA boy Adrian Klein as our PS4 player in the @ELeagueAus draft, with Zack Macgregor as our substitute.
Welcome to the West lads!#OneGlory pic.twitter.com/afDOe3XPgg
— Perth Glory FC (@PerthGloryFC) January 31, 2019
Sydney FC
Reigning Premiers Sydney FC have kept their winning recipe intact, retaining Mark Brijeski (FUTWIZ Marko) and Samer Elbadar (Samer96_).
The pair will play PS4 and Xbox, respectively.
Andrew Zappacosta (AZJuve34), a self-confessed Juventus fan, was the 10th pick in the draft and will be Sydney FC’s reserve.
🔒 it in! Our @ELeagueAus team for Season 2 is confirmed following tonight's draft!
Check out who our third player is as we welcome back our reigning Champions – https://t.co/k352A8i7QH#SydneyIsSkyBlue #ComeWithUs pic.twitter.com/9oaYI5CDcC
— Sydney FC (@SydneyFC) January 31, 2019
Wellington Phoenix
Last year’s cellar dwellers have re-signed Justin Josevski (N8 Justmanutd12), who will be joined by Omer Cenk (oCenk) as his Xbox teammate.
Daniel Ryan (D-Ry) crosses the Tasman as a reserve, having played for Adelaide United last year.
E-LEAGUE | 🎮 The final spot for the @ELeagueAus goes to…
Congratulations to @D_Ry1998 named our third and final #Nix representative for the @ELeagueAus 2019 Season
Welcome to the #NixFamily D-Ry!#StandUpWithYourNix #CreateHistory #ELeague pic.twitter.com/dv3if4OMgj
— Wellington Phoenix 🔥 (@WgtnPhoenixFC) January 31, 2019
Western Sydney Wanderers
Joel Andruskiewicz (N8 Jaz) will be playing PS4 for the Western Sydney Wanderers despite spending a lot more time on Xbox.
He will be joined by Joseph Nassar (OhNoAGoat) who returns for the Wanderers.
Negede Hunegnaw (Tyrone) was the seventh pick and is predominantly a PS4 player.
I HAVE QUALIFIED FOR THE FGS 19 FUT Champions Cup in March i cannot believe this i am still in shock!!!!!!
— Joey (@OhNoAGoat) January 6, 2019
Here is how the Draft played out
Competitors Signed Pre-Draft
Adelaide United
Rick “RDOUBLE_TT” Trann (PS4)
Jamie “FUTWIZ Jamie” O’Doherty
Brisbane Roar
Dylan “AussieFifa” Banks (PS4)
Central Coast Mariners
Jesse “JesseD” Da Silva (PS4)
Kiran “Kyren” Gupta (XBOX)
Melbourne City
Marcus “Marcus” Gomes (XBOX)
Melbourne Victory
Sarge “SARGE” Sarge (PS4)
Mouad “Mo” Zwed (XBOX)
Newcastle Jets
Christian “Fweshest” Bartiollo (PS4)
Liz “N8” Varley (XBOX)
Sydney FC
Mark “MarkoHD” Brijewski (PS4)
Samer “Samer96” Elbadar (XBOX)
Western Sydney Wanderers
Joel “Jaz” Andruszkiewicz (PS4)
Joseph “OhNoAGoat” Nassar (XBOX)
Here are all the competitors that have been signed by clubs before the start of the #ELeague draft!
Watch LIVE: https://t.co/WG90q8B8ge pic.twitter.com/LSrniC7oet
— E-League (@ELeagueAus) January 31, 2019
Competitors Drafted in Round One
Wellington Phoenix – Justin “Justmanutd12” Josevski (PS4)
Melbourne Victory – Ben “EpicFlyer010” Carter (SUB)
Newcastle Jets – Bohdan “BLFIFA” Ling (SUB)
Brisbane Roar – Andy “AKP0” Phanouvong (XBOX)
Perth Glory – Adrian “StridentCorn” Klein (PS4)
Adelaide United – Zac “vDreaMz—Shooter” May-Burgess (SUB)
Western Sydney Wanderers – Negede “Tyrone” Hunegnaw (SUB)
Central Coast Mariners – Matthew “StrawhatCamels” Camilleri (SUB)
Melbourne City – Peter “saisanas” Saisanas (PS4)
Sydney FC – Andrew “AZJuve34” Zappacosta (SUB)
After Round 1 of the #ELeague Draft, here are competitors picked up by each club!
Watch LIVE: https://t.co/Y6Zc8BAXtb pic.twitter.com/PElYU1jUEK
— E-League (@ELeagueAus) January 31, 2019
Competitors Drafted in Round Two
Wellington Phoenix – Omer “oCenk_” Cenk (XBOX)
Brisbane Roar – To be selected after a competition in Brisbane next week (SUB)
Perth Glory – Zach “zacmac99” Macgregor (SUB)
Melbourne City – Storm “Storm Noa” Noa (SUB)
After Round 2 of the #ELeague Draft, here are the competitors picked up by each club.
Watch LIVE: https://t.co/Y6Zc8BAXtb pic.twitter.com/Hn4W49cgx2
— E-League (@ELeagueAus) January 31, 2019
Competitors Drafted in Round Three
Wellington Phoenix – Daniel “D-Ry” Ryan (SUB)
Here it is!
All 30 competitors who will take part in #ELeague Season 2!
Re-live all the action here: https://t.co/WG90q8B8ge pic.twitter.com/Qo51LIbWgl
— E-League (@ELeagueAus) January 31, 2019