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. 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 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 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 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: 2019–2023 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. 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. During the 2020 offseason, the organization completely rebuilt its team, dropping its entire roster and coaching staff. 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. 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. == Team identity ==