Northampton Town signed eSports player Liam 'REAPERZz' Merry in October of 2017 after his performances in the competitive 'Weekend League' in FIFA 18, finishing as high as one of the top fifty players in the UK, and he’s now a champion in Blackpool.
He also supervises Northampton Town’s Game Zone on a matchday, which includes a number of PlayStation4 consoles with FIFA available for supporters to use. In addition to the Game Zone, he also runs a half-term FIFA soccer school for kids, giving tips and tricks and the opportunity to learn from a professional player.
Liam has won many tournaments in the UK in past editions of FIFA, including several major daily tournaments at the Insomnia Gaming Festival with cash prizes of over £100 a day. His first win at competitive level came at Insomnia 54 in 2015.
“This first event, it changed my life. Literally I won my first tournament, and then an eSports team picked me up, and from then on, it literally hasn’t stopped. Now I’ve signed for Northampton Town, a dream football club,” stated Liam on fellow FIFA YouTuber MeelayyB’s channel.
Liam travelled four hours from Northampton to Blackpool for a Champions League tournament over a recent weekend. This tournament involved all of the teams in the current Champions League season, he was given Ajax, which is considered a much weaker team in comparison to the giants of Manchester City, Barcelona or Real Madrid, REAPERZz still managed to claim the tournament’s cash prize.
“The tournament in Blackpool was a huge success,” Liam said. “After being drawn the 3rd worst team in the tournament, I still managed to win the whole thing.”
Liam is positive about the industry as a whole, stating it will only go up from here.
“As a whole, FIFA eSports is massively on the rise and I’m lucky enough to already have my foot in the door. There’s lots of different football clubs around the world that have their very own FIFA players and I’m lucky enough to be with my local club Northampton Town.
FIFA is only going to go forward and bring better things to competitive players. Prize money is at an all-time high and the competitive scene is getting stronger and stronger.”
Despite the tough competition, Liam is still confident that he’ll be one of UK’s top players come the end of the season.