A breakdown of City’s three historic ePremier League titles | OneFootball

On this day four years ago, Man City Esports lifted our first-ever ePremier League trophy.

Monday also marked the one-year anniversary of our historic second ePremier League title win as City became the first club to lift the trophy twice.

And three days ago, on Sunday 21 March, City won the 2025 ePremier League title to be the first club to be crowned champions in back-to-back seasons and in doing so, also become the first team to triumph three times in the showpiece.

To commemorate the three winning moments, we take a look back at each ePremier League title, including the thoughts of the FC Pros who won those respective titles…

SHELLZZ – 2021 ePremier League champion

Two years after the competition’s inception, Shellzz fought off tough competition during lockdown to become City’s first ePremier League champion.

In the competition’s old format, clubs were represented by one FC Pro with the final of the ePremier League seeing the best Xbox and PlayStation Pros go head-to-head in a Grand Final in order to claim the crown.

19 years old at the time, Shellzz joined the Club in 2018 and was looking to make his mark in the competitive scene after a disappointing exit in the Round of 16 the year prior.

Shellzz showed he meant business in the Group Stage, topping Group D unbeaten and with a positive goal difference of seven.

In the Finals, the first opponent for Shellzz was Cosmin. A 3-1 win in the first leg was cancelled out by a 3-1 defeat which meant the winner would be decided via a penalty shootout. Shellzz saved Cosmin’s fifth penalty before dispatching his own to progress to the final four.

But another tough test awaited in MarcMarleyyy who was the number one UK Xbox player at the time.

Shellzz, however, focused on what he had to do and, in turn, put on a fantastic 3-0 win in the first leg. A narrow 2-1 defeat in the second leg meant Shellzz won with an aggregate of 4-2 and was through to the PlayStation final.

The former City Pro had to dig deep to earn a 2-1 win in the first leg of his clash with MHaywxrd. A 2-1 loss in the reverse fixture took the game to extra time where one goal was enough for Shellzz to be named the PlayStation champion and progress to the Grand Final.

Standing in his way of the ePremier League trophy was Leeds United and Xbox champion Ollelito.

Shellzz conceded an early goal but clawed back to take a two-goal lead into the break before finishing the first leg 4-1 up. However, a 3-1 loss in the second leg meant the final would go to extra time with the aggregate score tied at 5-5.

A goal each for Ollelito and Shellzz in the additional 30 minutes left the score level once again. This meant the winner would be decided in the most dramatic of circumstances: a penalty shootout. Back-to-back penalty saves from Shellzz saw him earn the ePremier League title in a moment he will never forget.

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“It’s honestly my proudest achievement and I think seeing the team’s success past my time there makes me appreciate it a bit more,” began Shellzz.

“Not many people get to call themselves a champion in this esport, I came close a couple times before but I never thought I would see it all the way through.

“My favourite moment was definitely saving the last penalty and it being over. I had no idea how to act, I never got to this part before.

“I knew I was the champ but I had no idea on how to act!

“When I look back at the tournament as a whole I think it’s hard to point out one thing that was the key to my success but it was a lot of hard work from not just me but from my teammate Ryan [Pessoa] and the rest of the people at CFG and the coaches that helped me during the game.

“The Club put a lot of time and effort in trying to make me the best player I can be and it paid off.”

TEKKZ AND MATI – 2024 ePremier League champions

Under the current format of the ePremier League, clubs are represented by two Pros, one on Xbox and one on PlayStation, and their scores are combined for an aggregate to determine the winning side.

In their first campaign as Man City Esports players, Donovan ‘Tekkz’ Hunt and Matias Bonanno were looking to follow in the footsteps of Shellzz in lifting the ePremier League trophy in their debut season for the Club.

And the start of the 2024 campaign couldn’t have gone much better with the duo going undefeated – with seven wins and one draw – to top Group A in the Group Stage with a positive goal difference of 26, the highest of any team.

Being at the group summit meant Tekkz and Mati automatically progressed to the quarter-finals.

Tekkz was up first and was looking to give Bonanno a comfortable lead in the second leg. And the 2019 ePremier League champion definitely delivered. He beat Tottenham Hotspur’s Lyricz 5-0.

Mati then beat Tom Leese 2-0 to complete an aggregate score of 7-0 and secure our place in the semi-final.

In the hot seat first, Argentine Bonanno took on Luton Town’s LukeDowning. And it was another convincing victory in the first leg with Mati putting on a 6-0 triumph.

In the second leg, Tekkz faced Harveywxters in a 0-0 stalemate as City cruised to the Grand Final.

Tekkz took the controller first in the final against Brighton’s Jayden Groden. A tense 1-0 win gave Mati a slight advantage for the second leg with the final very much still to be decided.

But Bonanno took the pressure in his stride as he took on MarcMarleyyy. Despite Mati being on top for a large part of the match, Brighton scored with their first shot on target to level the aggregate.

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The game went to extra time but Mati was still confident he could lead City to victory. An error at the back saw Bonanno pounce in what would be the winning moment in the 111th minute as we were crowned ePremier League champions.

“My favourite moment was the celebrations after I scored the winning goal with Erling Haaland,” said Mati.

“It meant a lot winning the ePremier League. It also saw us qualify for the eChampions League and World Cup so it was amazing.

“It was incredible to help Man City achieve their second title in this tournament and we did a lot of work to ensure it would be achieved.”

TEKKZ AND MATI – 2025 ePremier League Champions

This time around, Tekkz and Mati faced a new challenge and a new record to break.

No club and no same duo had ever won back-to-back ePremier League titles.

Once again City’s FC Pros began our latest league journey strong. Tekkz and Mati topped Group B with seven wins and one loss, totalling an impressive 21 points, the highest tally across the groups.

This meant City advanced straight to Sunday’s quarter-finals where we would face Fulham. Tekkz’ opponent was Yeffi67 who he overcame with a 4-0 triumph to give Bonanno a convincing lead for the second leg.

But a 4-1 defeat for Mati against Salman made for a much tighter affair than anticipated. But Bonanno’s single goal was enough to send City through with an aggregate of 5-4.

In the semi-final, Mati looked to better his performance and return the favour to Tekkz by giving him a convincing lead for the second leg.

Taking on Liverpool’s ManuBachoore, Mati won 6-2 followed by Tekkz’ 2-0 defeat to Leks – his first defeat in the 2025 ePL - to see City advance with a 6-4 scoreline across the two legs.

The final was a replica of the season prior, City versus Brighton.

Tekkz took centre stage first in his game against Jayden. But the match didn’t pan out the same way as 2024 with Tekkz falling to a 4-2 defeat.

Mati would need to play some of his best football if City were to turn the tide. A fantastic and thrilling 4-1 win over MarcMarleyyy in the final saw Bonanno complete an emphatic 6-5 comeback which saw City carve our name in esports history once again.

Tekkz said: "The most memorable moment for me was watching Mati score the first goal in the second leg of the final because it gave me belief that we can comeback and win. A lot of people doubted us this year but we knew what we are capable of so being able to go back-to-back was an amazing feeling.

"It was nerve wracking watching on because I couldn't do anything to control the situation in that moment. I was just sat there watching the clock. It might sound crazy but despite the nerves I just knew Mati was going to bring it home. It was an unreal feeling.

"The most important thing for me is to win here and now. Record and statistics are cool but the only thing that mattered to me was becoming 2025 champions and qualifying for the eChampions League and the World Championship."