Fans of traditional sports might often look down their noses at esports but the reverse is rarely true. In fact, there are many high-profile figures in esports who adore their football and are not afraid to shout about it. But where do the loyalties lie?
Red-y for glory
A long-overdue title win for Liverpool would certainly go down well among the esports community and, with Jurgen Klopp's team battling with Manchester City for Premier League honours, his could well be their year.
PashaBiceps - the strongest man in CSGO - is a fan of Liverpool, according to the tweet below, and that makes a lot of sense. Supporting the Anfield club requires patience, and shoulders broad enough to take the weight of history, and after his time in VP you know Papa B has both of those.
ESL are the best, and one of the oldest tournament organisers in the game, and it should come as no surprise to hear that one of their top guys is a Liverpool fan.
Michal "CARMAC" Blicharz is ESL's Vice President of Pro Gaming, one of the main men behind the Intel Extreme Masters series and he just might be old enough to remember when Liverpool were really good. Other notable Liverpool fans in esports include our own Sujoy Roy, League of Legends broadcaster Deman, CSGO great HeatoN and FaZe Clan's rain.
Down Toon
Luckbox’s Redeye, Richard Lewis, Vince – Rich and Redeye are esports royalty, and that means that they lived through the times when esports was little more than a joke, and have stuck it out to see the promised land. This experience should serve them will when supporting Newcastle, a club currently being run into the ground by a Poundland Alan Sugar.
Gunner stick together
FaZe Olofmeister, Vitality ALEX, RNG Jkaem/USTILO/jks/azr – aside from Sweden's finest and the Brit abroad, Arsenal fans stick together, as people tend to in times of dire need, and it seems like the RNG boys caught something from team mates Jkaem and USTILO. The latter pair joined RNG as Gunners, and the rest of the team apparently ended up supporting the London club, too, which perhaps explains why the players in this group struggle to go further than the semis in most big events…
Bit of Blue
Pimp – when it comes to CSGO analysis, Pimp has a good number of fans already, but it seems as though his knowhow of the beautiful game is somewhat blinkered by his love for Chelsea. Possibly in an attempt to avoid being called a ‘plastic’ due to his having no link to the London club, the Dane goes out of his way to talk up his team, despite the evidence of the season telling a different story. Former CSGO caster TosspoT is also a Chelsea fan, and aptly named for fitting in to that group?
Bayern for blood
Ralf Reichert, Alex Muller - Two kingpins of European CSGO, leading as they do ESL and SK Gaming respectively, both follow the most evil of all the empires, that being Bayern Munich. The German connection makes sense, and being a dominant monolith with questionable practices is the best way to go when it comes to pure success.
Feelings for Fener
NRG Tarik – Fenerbahce is the club Tarik said he supports when asked in an interview, and it’s an interesting choice. His Turkish ancestry is no secret, of course, and the choice of Fener, one of the most passionately supported teams in the world, suggests a family connection that may be deeper than just football. On the other hand, plenty of Fener fans fall into the ‘peanut brain’ category too…
Spurred on
Nate Nanzer - the Overwatch kingpin is a Spurs fan, we hear, and the connection with the club immediately makes sense if you know about OWL. Getting the best venue possible is the priority, and never mind if you win anything, or people tune in, you can still boast about your geolocation/best ground in Europe...
Hammer time
Pansy - multi-game commentator and FPS monster Lauren "Pansy" Scott is apparently a West Ham United supporter, which would have at least prepared her for the long grind of making it in esports, and the long fallow years when the scene had nothing going on, but could look back on the olden days, when glory was still abundant.
More than a coincidence
Mouz Karrigan – apparently Danish in-game leader is a die-hard Barcelona fan, although there is an amusing anecdote to go along with his surprising choice. According to an interview, he has seen the club play live three times in the flesh, and they lost on each occasion, so he no longer feels like watching them in Camp Nou. Now he knows how FaZe fans felt tuning in during the last months of his time there.
The boys from Brazil
LG Steel Corinthians, LG Yel Bahia - these are two of the players representing Luminosity Gaming, and it’s great to see them representing sides from Brazilian football. Keeping the faith has been a big part of Steel’s career, as he is one of the nicest guys in CS, and has not always been treated that well despite the fact.
