Celtic Football Club announce roster for CWL Champs 2019

‘The Bhoys’ – the name given to a number of European CoD players as they searched for an organization – have officially been picked up by historic Scottish football club Celtic FC ahead of Call of Duty’s most prestigious tournament. 

The Call of Duty World League Championships 2019 take place from August 14-18 in Los Angeles. The 5 day tournament will see the best CoD players in the world descend on LA, for their share of the $2 million prize pool. 

The Bhoys were on their way to Los Angeles regardless, following their first place finish at the CWL Amateur Finals back in July. The team finally has a home though, with Celtic FC announcing they’ve picked them up for the tournament. 

The players all wore Celtic home shirts for the announcement.

The roster, consisting of Sean ‘Seany’ O’Connor, Shea ‘QwiKeR’ Sweeney, Ben ‘Bance’ Bance, Byron ‘Nastie’ Plumridge and Sam ‘Chain’ Dineley, was operating under the name ‘The Bhoys’ as they searched for a roster. 

‘The Bhoys’ is also the name given to fans of Celtic FC. This was chosen by Glasgow-born Seany and QwiKeR, who have been lifelong Celtic fans.

• Read More: CoD fans split after Infinity Ward claims Modern Warfare is ‘not political’

“After a successful performance and just missing out on the eFootball.Pro’s inaugural championship title against AS Monaco Esports,” the announcement said. “Celtic FC Esports are currently evaluating the possibility of expanding into other esports competitions.”

“Call of Duty is a hugely popular gaming title around the world,” it continues. “The World League Championship is a world-class esports event that has attracted millions of online and offline viewers in recent years. The 2018 edition alone had over seven million views on Twitch and over five million hours watched online.”

The announcement also states that the support given by Celtic will provide the roster “worldwide exposure”, ahead of the transition into the franchised CoD league next year. 

Bance placed second at Black Ops III’s CoD Champs.

As the announcement states, it is not the first time football clubs have tried to expand into esports. 

• Read More: CWL Championship 2019 – Multi-stream, schedule, pools and more

Many Premier League sides already have teams competing in FIFA, and the backing from Celtic reiterates the growth of esports, as well as the desire of clubs to expand further into the world of competitive video games.

Celtic FC are fresh off a 7-0 victory over St Johnstone; a game QwiKeR was in attendance at. The British roster’s focus will now switch entirely to Call of Duty, as they fly to California to secure the best possible finish. 

While some of the team are fairly new to CoD esports, Bance featured in the 2016 tournament’s Grand Final, finishing second with Splyce. He will be hoping to go one better this week.