London Spitfire

Franchise Creation and Identity

The London Spitfire was formed in March 2016 as the Overwatch branch of the American esports organization Cloud9, initially competing under variations like Cloud9 KONGDOO. In August 2017, Activision Blizzard announced that Cloud9 had purchased the London Overwatch League franchise slot for roughly $20 million, making it the first and only European team heading into the league's inaugural season. Activision Blizzard executive Pete Vlastelica noted the importance of combining owners from traditional sports and esports, and Cloud9 CEO Jack Etienne chose London for its fantastic city, metro population, and transportation.

The team's name and shield-like logo were officially unveiled on November 1, 2017, paying homage to the British Supermarine Spitfire aircraft from World War II, reflecting a spirit of bravery. The team colors of blue and orange were chosen, with blue inherited from Cloud9 and orange referencing the British Overwatch character Tracer, a former RAF pilot in the game's lore. Despite representing London, the Spitfire never played a match in the United Kingdom. For the league's first two seasons, all matches were held at the Blizzard Arena in Burbank, California.

For the 2020 season, the team planned to host two homestand events in the UK at Wembley Arena and the National Exhibition Centre. To facilitate this, the team relocated its training facility to New Jersey to minimize travel to other North American teams. However, all live events were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Spitfire, along with the Vancouver Titans, then relocated to Seoul, South Korea, to compete in the league's Asian region for online play. In 2021, the team's personnel played and coached remotely from the United States and Europe.

The Inaugural Championship Season of 2018

London Spitfire's debut season in 2018 was a story of early dominance and a triumphant playoff run. The team's inaugural roster, revealed on November 4, 2017, was the maximum permitted twelve players and was composed entirely of South Korean players. It was an amalgamation of the existing Cloud9 KONGDOO core and the APEX Season 4 champions GC Busan. Under head coach Lee 'Bishop' Beom-joon, the Spitfire played its first regular season match on January 11, 2018, a 3-1 victory over the Florida Mayhem.

The team ended Stage 1 with a 7-3 record, earning the third seed in the Stage 1 Playoffs. There, they became the first-ever stage playoffs champions, defeating the Houston Outlaws 3-1 and the New York Excelsior 3-2. In March, midway through Stage 2, the Spitfire parted ways with head coach Bishop for undisclosed reasons. The team finished Stage 2 with an improved 8-2 record but lost in the stage semifinals to the Philadelphia Fusion. Performance dipped in Stages 3 and 4 with 5-5 and 4-6 records, missing further stage playoffs, but the team ended the regular season 24-16, in 5th place overall.

In the postseason, London lost its first match to the Los Angeles Gladiators 0-3 but won the next two matches against them 3-0 to advance. They then won both semifinal matches against the Los Angeles Valiant, 3-0 and 3-1. In the Grand Finals on July 27 and 28, 2018, the Spitfire defeated the Philadelphia Fusion 3-1 and 3-0 to claim the first-ever Overwatch League championship. DPS player Profit was named the Grand Finals MVP.

The 2019 Season and Playoff Run

The quest for a second title began in the 2019 offseason with the signing of new head coach Kim 'Coach815' Kwangbok. The season started poorly, with London winning only three matches in Stage 1 and missing the stage playoffs after a week 5 loss to the Seoul Dynasty. The team found form in Stage 2, posting a 6-1 record to qualify for the Stage 2 Playoffs, but were knocked out in the quarterfinals by the Hangzhou Spark.

In the middle of Stage 3, the Spitfire parted ways with head coach Kwang-bok Kim, leaving the team without a head coach. A 0-4 loss to the Los Angeles Valiant eliminated them from Stage 3 playoff contention, and they finished the stage 3-4. After a 4-3 record in Stage 4, London finished the regular season 16-12, qualifying for the play-in tournament for a chance at the season playoffs. There, they defeated the Shanghai Dragons 4-3 in an OWL record eight-map series to qualify. In the first round of the playoffs, London was defeated by the New York Excelsior 1-4, sending them to the lower bracket, where a 0-4 loss to the San Francisco Shock ended their 2019 season.

Complete Rebuilds and Struggles: 2020-2021

In the offseason preceding the 2020 season, the Spitfire overhauled its roster, releasing nearly all of its 2019 players and signing mostly rookies. The team promoted Hong 'Agape' Cheol-yong to head coach. After the cancellation of live events, the team relocated to Seoul to compete in the Asia region. London did not perform well, finishing the 2020 season in 17th place in the overall standings.

During the 2020 offseason, the organization initiated another complete rebuild, dropping its entire roster and coaching staff to focus on signing Western players and staff. They signed former Los Angeles Valiant coach Justin 'Reprize' Hand as head coach and built a team consisting mostly of players from their undefeated 2020 European Contenders academy team, British Hurricane. The team left South Korea to play remotely from the United States and Sweden for the Western region.

The 2021 season was difficult. After an 0-8 start, head coach Justin 'Reprize' Hand retired. Assistant coach Mads 'fischer' Jehg became the new head coach. London remained winless until their final match of the season, when they defeated the Vancouver Titans to finish with a 1-15 record.

Academy Team and Development Pipeline

On February 15, 2018, the Spitfire formally announced that their academy team for Overwatch Contenders Europe would be called the British Hurricane, and revealed an all-European squad. The team competed in events like the first Atlantic Showdown, where they defeated Lowkey Esports before losing to Team Envy. British Hurricane became a dominant force in European development, winning every European Overwatch Contenders title in 2020.

This success directly influenced the Spitfire's strategic direction. For the 2021 season, the organization leveraged this pipeline, signing several players from British Hurricane to form the core of its new Western-focused OWL roster, aiming to build a competitive team from within its own system.

Key Personnel, Awards, and Sponsorship

London Spitfire's first head coach was Lee 'Bishop' Beom-joon, who guided the team to its first stage title. Later coaches included Kim 'Coach815' Kwangbok, Hong 'Agape' Cheol-yong, Justin 'Reprize' Hand, and Mads 'fischer' Jehg. In 2022, coach ChrisTFer won the Coach of the Year award.

The team's players earned numerous individual accolades. The 2018 championship core saw multiple All-Star Game selections: birdring and Bdosin in 2018, and Fury, Gesture, and Profit in both 2018 and 2019. Profit also won the Grand Finals MVP award in 2018. In later seasons, Glister was an All-Star in 2020, and in 2022, player Hadi earned the Role Star and Dennis Hawelka awards.

In March 2018, London signed a one-year sponsorship deal with Logitech G. The deal included equipment and gear supply, and featured the Logitech G logo on the team's jerseys.