London Spitfire

Team creation

Formed in March 2016, London Spitfire originally started out as the Overwatch branch of American esports organisation Cloud9. Under variations of the Cloud9 moniker, such as Cloud9 KONGDOO, they would go on to field rosters from multiple continents during their pre-OWL tenure.

On 10 August 2017, Activision Blizzard announced that Cloud9 had purchased the London Overwatch League franchise; the franchise would be the first and only European team heading into the inaugural season. Pete Vlastelica, an executive in Activision Blizzard's esports division, reported that several unnamed European companies were interested in purchasing the London rights to hold an Overwatch League franchise. Vlastelica noted, "Cloud9 may be a new name for some in the traditional sports world, but I can assure you they are not a niche or fringe player in esports. As we build this league, it was really important to us to combine the capabilities of owners from both traditional sports and the world of esports." Jack Etienne, chief executive Cloud9, paid roughly $20 million (£15.4 million) for the franchise slot. Etienne said that he chose the London slot because it is a "fantastic city with an amazing metro population [and] fantastic transportation to get people to events."

On 1 November, the team revealed they would be called London Spitfire. Shortly afterwards on 4 November, they disclosed their 12-player inaugural season roster, the maximum permitted, which would be entirely composed of South Korean players. The roster would mainly be an amalgamation of their current Cloud9 KONGDOO core and OGN's Overwatch APEX Season 4 champions GC Busan.

Inaugural season champions: 2018

On 11 January, the Spitfire played their first regular season Overwatch League match in a 3–1 victory over the Florida Mayhem. They would end Stage 1 of the 2018 Season with a 7–3 record, earning them the third and final spot in the Stage 1 Playoffs. The team then became the first-ever stage playoffs champions, after achieving victories over 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 Lee "Bishop" Beom-joon for undisclosed reasons. The team finished Stage 2 with an improved 8–2 record and attained another stage playoffs berth. However, they fell short to the Philadelphia Fusion in a thrilling 2–3 semifinals series. However, after Stage 2, the Spitfire failed to make another stage playoffs, going 5–5 in Stage 3 and 4–6 in Stage 4. The team ended the season with a 24–16 record, good for 5th place and a spot in the postseason.

London lost their first postseason matchup against the Los Angeles Gladiators on 11 July by a score of 0–3, but the team turned it around the next two games against the Gladiators, winning in 3–0 sweeps in matches two and three and advancing the team to the semifinals. London won both games against the Los Angeles Valiant in the semifinals, winning 3–0 in match one and 3–1 in match two. London claimed the first Overwatch League championship after defeating the Philadelphia Fusion on 27 and 28 July by scores of 3–1 and 3–0, respectively.

Quest for a second title: 2019–present

The Spitfire filled their head coach vacancy in the 2019 offseason, signing Kim "Coach815" Kwangbok. London began their 2019 season winning only three of their matches in Stage 1. The stage ended with a 0–3 loss to the Seoul Dynasty in week 5, causing the team to miss out on the Stage 1 Playoffs. London found success in Stage 2, as the team posted a 6–1 record and qualified for the Stage 2 Playoffs; however, they were knocked out in the quarterfinals by the Hangzhou Spark after losing 1–3. The Spitfire parted ways with head coach Kwang-bok "Coach815" Kim in the middle of Stage 3, leaving the team without a head coach. A 0–4 loss to the Los Angeles Valiant in Stage 3 eliminated London from Stage 3 playoff contention as the team went on to post a 3–4 record for that stage. After a 4–3 win–loss record in Stage 4, London finished the regular season with a 16–12 record and qualified for the play-in tournament for a chance to make it to the 2019 season playoffs. London took down the Shanghai Dragons 4–3 in an OWL record eight-map series to qualify for the season playoffs. In the first round, London was defeated by the New York Excelsior, 1–4, sending the team to the lower bracket. A 0–4 loss to the San Francisco Shock ended the Spitfire's 2019 playoff run.

In the offseason preceding the 2020 season, the Spitfire overhauled their roster, releasing nearly all of their players from the 2019 season and signing mostly rookies. Additionally, the team promoted Hong "Agape" Cheol-yong as their head coach. While the team planned to play in the United Kingdom for live homestands, the team relocated its training facility to New Jersey to minimize travel time to other cities. However, after all live events were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Spitfire relocated to Seoul, South Korea, to compete in league's Asia region. London did not perform well in the 2020 season, finishing in 17th place in the overall standings.

During the 2020 offseason, the organization completely rebuilt its team, dropping its entire roster and coaching staff. Focusing on signing Western players and staff, London signed former Los Angeles Valiant coach Justin "Reprize" Hand as their new head coach. They signed a team consisting players mostly from their Overwatch Contenders academy team British Hurricane — a team that had won every European Overwatch Contenders title in 2020. The team also left South Korea to play remotely from the United States and Sweden to compete in the league's Western region. After an 0–8 start to the season, head coach Justin "Reprize" Hand retired; assistant coach Mads "fischer" Jehg became the new head coach of the team thereafter. London remained winless until their final match of the season, when they defeated the Vancouver Titans, to finish the season with a 1–15 record.