The British obsession with football is such that every single citizen of this tiny island is thought to have a favourite team. Apparently, that also extends to virtual UK citizens, which, of course, means that Overwatch’s Tracer has to make her allegiance known.
Overwatch’s latest Archives Event, Rising Storm, is available right now, and features a bunch of new voice lines for the characters it involves – Winston, Genji, Mercy, and Tracer. For the time-travelling DPS hero, one of those lines reads “he fell over, he fell over,” suggesting an affinity for football that she’s never really exhibited before.
That prompted one fan on Twitter to reach out to Overwatch’s lead writer Micheal Chu and ask whether or not Tracer has a favourite team. In response, Chu said that “Blue is the colour,” referencing London-based Chelsea FC’s team anthem, and declaring with minimal room for discussion that Tracer is a Chelsea fan. Except, to be honest, I don’t really buy into that at all. Allow me to explain.
Tracer’s accent places her comfortably as a citizen of London’s East End. Chelsea, on the other hand, is traditionally a much more affluent borough, found in the South-West of the city. If Tracer truly is a football fan, it would make much more sense for her to support a team like West Ham, Charlton Athletic, or even *shudders* Millwall.
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Putting aside the time-honoured tradition of ‘glory supporting’ – rooting for a successful team from halfway across the country (I used to pretend to support Manchester United, despite having never set foot in Manchester in my life) – I can’t buy into a proud Eastender supporting a team from the other side of London. Chu might be in charge of this kind of thing, but I know exactly where my headcanon is at.