Well done to our two FIFA winners!

Last weekend saw the finals of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland online FIFA 20 tournaments.

David Labourn won the PS4 Tournament. Playing as Barcelona, David recorded a 3-2 win in a very competitive final.

The Xbox One Tournament was won by Carter Conlane, who played as Liverpool and claimed an impressive 3-0 victory in the final.

This marked the end of the Orange Institution’s first venture into the world of online sports gaming and it certainly got off to a winning start.

Those following The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland social media channels will be aware that Youth Development Officer Gary McAllister put together an online football tournament, using the popular EA Sports game FIFA20.

Interest in the competition was such that the final total of participants was just short of 300, across both the PS4 and Xbox consoles.

Commenting on the competition, Gary McAllister said: “We have been absolutely delighted with the interest shown in the competition. It was very difficult to know just how popular a competition of this nature would be, but it is clear there is certainly a big appeal with younger gamers and those not just so young!

“In this competition we had players registered from across Northern Ireland, a strong contingent from Scotland as well as some from England and the Republic of Ireland.

“The idea of the competition was to provide an outlet for people during the difficult days of restrictions as we fight to prevent the spread of Coronavirus. The games have been competitive with no shortage of goals in some ties!”

Gary: “Congratulations to our winners and thanks go to everyone who took part in the tournaments.”