Top flight Dutch club Heracles have become the world's first football club to open an academy for their eSports team of competitive FIFA players.

The Eredivisie team has recruited six players – aged between 13 and 19-years-old – to the new academy, where they'll be coached by Heracles' current eSports pro Bryan Hessing.

The six players will compete on behalf of Heracles at professional FIFA tournaments all over the world.

The trend of eSports players joining professional football clubs has increased greatly in the last two years. Wolfsburg became the first club to sign a player to represent them two years ago, while West Ham became the first Premier League club to 'sign' a FIFA player in May 2016.