Norwich City are the 2021/22 ePremier League champions, with Damien 'Damie' Augustyniak and Jack 'GoalPoacher_' Wignall leading the Canaries to their first ever ePremier League victory on FIFA 22.
The 21/22 ePremier League had a change in format for the first time which saw each club go head-to-head in two matches on Xbox and PlayStation, with the aggregate score deciding the winner. 1JEsports duo Damie and Goalpoacher_ emerged victorious, with the Norwich City representatives beating Brentford duo Sam 'SamBrwster' Brewster and Peace 'czohino' Chirwa 5-1 on aggregate on FIFA 22 in the Grand Final on Sunday.
The Canaries victory also saw the duo win £30,000 in prize money out of the £100,000 prize pool, with the £30k being split 50/50 between the winners.
Norwich's Damie was a semi-finalist in the inaugural 2018/2019 ePremier League where Liverpool and Tekkz were crowned champions, and Damie won his Xbox leg 3-1 in the finals before Goalpoacher_ won the Playstation leg 2-0 to became champions
Along with winning the trophy and £30k prize money, the Norwich duo and Brentford's SamBrwster claimed the three seats on offer for the EA SPORTS FIFA 22 Global Series European Playoffs.
There was always going to be a new winner in the 21/22 ePremier League after last years winner Shellzz, who represented Manchester City, failed to qualify.
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Norwich were an outside favourite from the go, but their chances of advancing past the group stages were always going to be tough as they were placed in Group D, labelled the 'group of death'.
Their five-team group was made up of Aston Villa, Newcastle United, Watford and Tottenham Hotspur, with the latter two sides favourites to advance.
2019/20 winner Tom Leese was representing Spurs after having won the competition in an online event in 2019/2020, and he was joined by his Excel teammate Spencer 'Gorilla' Ealing, who is a former eWorld Cup winner.
Hashtag United esports athletes Alex Shaw and Tom Stokes were representing Watford, but the Hornets finished bottom of Group D with just one win from four games. Spurs only managed one point more along with Newcastle, meaning Villa and Norwich advanced.
The Canaries won three and drew one of their four games, including some incredible victories against Newcastle and Watford, winning 7-0 and 11-4 on aggregate respectively.
Elsewhere, Brentford and Chelsea advanced from Group A, Liverpool and Everton advanced from Group B and Leeds United and Crystal Palace advanced from Group C, making up the eight teams to compete in the Quarter Finals on day two.
With a former winner on their team, Liverpool were seemingly favourites to go on and win the competition after some surprising early exits, but Tekkz and Diogo Mendes were unable to make it past the last eight, losing 3-1 on aggregate to Crystal Palace's Ethan Higgens and Jacob Benskin.
Norwich continued their impressive form by beating Chelsea 5-2 on aggregate in the semi-finals, with Damie winning his leg 3-0 before Goalpoacher_ drew 2-2, setting up a semi-final tie against Leeds United, represented by Mitchell Hayward and Olle "Ollelito" Arbin, last years runner up.
A tight affair between Damie and Ollelito played out a tense 0-0 draw in the Xbox leg, but after going 2-0 up in the PlayStation leg, Goalpoacher_ beat Hayward 2-1 to send the Canaries through to the Grand Final.
Damie sent the Canaries into a 3-1 lead in the first leg of the final as Norwich took a big step towards victory, and a convincing performance from Goalpoacher_ in the second leg saw Norwich win 2-0, making it 5-1 on aggregate.
After being crowned champions, Damie spoke to Sky Sports about his victory: "Words can't describe how I'm feeling right now. The standard of player this year went up a level, so it feels a bit surreal to call myself an ePremier League Champion.
"I'm so proud to lift the trophy, for the first ever time, and I'm pleased that the hard work has paid off."
Goalpoacher_ had the important job of maintaining the lead in the second leg for Norwich, and he did that in style. Goalpoacher_ said to Sky Sports after the win: "This is my first ePremier League title and lifting the trophy is a moment that I'll never forget.
"It has been a tough tournament, but I feel that Damien and I worked well as a team and, together, managed to progress past any opponent who stood in our way. I was always confident that we'd have a chance, but to go and win the tournament is a dream come true."
The victory puts Norwich in a very exclusive list of ePremier League winners, with the same player or team yet to win the competition more than once.
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