Schalke 04, the team which once competed in the LEC officially departed the biggest esport of the world, only staying in EA Sports FC.
It’s a sad day for German League of Legends fans: Schalke 04, the football team located in Gelsenkirchen officially left professional League of Legends today.
Wichtige News! ⤵️ #S04Esports pic.twitter.com/jaSOc2xZaV
— Schalke 04 Esports League of Legends (@S04EsportsLoL) March 28, 2024
The decision was revealed in an X (formerly known as Twitter) post on March 28th. The reason behind Schalke 04’s exit was due to the club’s football team getting relegated to Bundesliga 2 after finishing 17th in the 2022-23 season. While the team won’t compete in League of Legends anymore, they will stay active in another esport, EA Sports FC 24 (which was previously known as FIFA).
Schalke 04’s Time in League of Legends
Schalke created it’s LoL Division in 2016, joining the 2016 Summer EU LCS with the roster of Elements after buying the team’s seed. Their first team was Steve, Gilius, MrRalleZ, promisq (known as sprattel at the time) and Fox, who replaced Eika. They were the second professional sports team to join esports, with Besiktas being the first in 2015.
The team had a rough start, getting relegated after their first split, then not managing to make it back to the EU LCS until 2018, even though they won the EUCS 2017 Spring Regular Season. When they returned, the team signed Vizicsacsi, Pride, Nukeduck, Vander and Upset, soon swapping their jungler for Amazing. With that team, they went on to get 2nd place in the 2018 EU LCS Summer Playoffs, but failed to make it to Worlds. In the first year of the LEC, 2019, they had some ups and downs but the roster Odoamne, Trick, Abbedagge, Upset and IgNar finished 3rd in the 2019 Summer Playoffs and Regional Finals.
The most memorable moment of Schakle 04 was their miracle run in 2020. The team of Odoamne, Gilius, Abbedagge, Neon and Dreams had a horrible 1-10 start to the 2020 Summer LEC after finishing 8th in Spring, looking to become the last in the next split. However, they managed to make a huge comeback, finishing the season with a standing of 8 wins and 10 losses. Their qualification also came down to a single match against MAD Lions, but thanks to Abbedagge, they managed to get into Playoffs. They finished in 5th place, but many still talk about the “Schalke Miracle Run”.
The German club stayed in the LEC until the 2021 Summer Split. Their football team just got relegated to the 2nd division of the Bundesliga, so they needed funds to improve their players – and selling the LEC spot was the way to do it. However, they stayed in the German ERL, the Prime League, where they became a strong middle of the pack team. In 2022, they came in second at the Summer Playoffs, and played in the EMEA Masters Main Event of that year.
The football team of Schalke returned to the Bundesliga for the 2022-2023 season but failed to stick, getting relegated again – and again, the League of Legends division was the one to take the brunt. However, Schalke 04 gave us great memories – we hope they will be back in the Prime League in the future after their football team returns to it’s former glory!
Bence “Atreus” Loksa is a freelance journalist and League of Legends shoutcaster, covering all things esports and gaming, also yelling loudly at big plays happening on the Summoner’s Rift. While his main focus is Riot Games’ hit MOBA, he also dabbles in Call of Duty, VALORANT, and as of recent, the tabletop wargame Warhammer 40,000 – where he looks to make some grudges with his Leagues of Votann army.
