Scottish FA launches first of two e-National Teams to represent Scotland in 2020
With Scotland’s crucial UEFA EURO 2020 Play-off Semi-final match against Israel looming, two other Scotland players are also about to begin their EURO qualification journey, as Scotland’s first representatives in the UEFA eEURO competition.
Frazer Young, 34 from Glasgow, and Reece Devlin, 28, originally from Edinburgh, will represent Scotland in KONAMI and UEFA’s brand new esports competition after successfully navigating the online qualifying phase in eFootball PES 2020 on PS4.
The pair met each other in person for the first time at Hampden Park earlier this week, where they received their national team kit and enjoyed a game of eFootball PES 2020 on the Hampden big screens.
They will now compete against Liechtenstein, Portugal, Romania and Slovenia in the online first group stage, to be contested between March and May, as they aim to progress to the tournament final, to be held in London from 9–10 July.
The team is the first of two esports teams the Scottish FA will launch this year, with two players to be chosen to represent Scotland at FIFA 20 in the FIFA eNations tournament. The Scottish FA will choose its inaugural eNational Team roster for FIFA based on the EA SPORTS FIFA 20 Global Series Rankings.
Frazer Young: “I can’t wait to get started. You grow up dreaming of representing your country. Unfortunately I couldn’t do it on the pitch but I am able to do it now through UEFA eEURO 2020.
“It is an honour to wear the shirt and we hope everyone can get behind us as we look to reach the finals in London. Esports is just taking off in this country so it is exciting to be part of the first Scotland eNational Team.”
Reece Devlin: “To receive a call up to represent your country is very special, if not a little surreal. I am quietly optimistic we can do well but it is a step into the unknown.
“We face Portugal in our qualifying group who have professional players, but we look forward to that challenge and pitting ourselves against the best in the world.
“We’ve already had a couple of countries reach out to us for warm up matches. We plan to train as hard as we can ahead of the qualifiers next month and do everyone in Scotland proud.”
Chris Rawlings, Scottish FA Commercial Director: “At the Scottish FA, it is our job to inspire a nation to love football and esports has the potential to connect a younger audience with the Scotland National Teams in a way that would have been unheard of even a few years ago.
“UEFA and FIFA have presented us with two opportunities this year to experiment with the esports format. Many other nations have successfully leveraged their participation in esports into greater engagement with their traditional national teams and we are excited to see what potential this has for Scotland.
“Frazer and Reece have a difficult task ahead of them and could face other nations who already employ professional esports players.
“We hope that the Scotland supporters show them the sort of backing that our traditional football national teams are used to receiving and I am sure they will both give their all for Scotland.
In recognition of the loyalty of Scotland supporters, the Scottish FA is offering tickets for the vital EURO 2020 Play-off Semi-final against Israel at Hampden from as little as five pounds. Secure your ticket at tickets.scottishfa.co.uk.