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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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)
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)
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)
Competitors Drafted in Round Three
Wellington Phoenix – Daniel “D-Ry” Ryan (SUB)
