Ted Lasso's football club, AFC Richmond, is so believable and even has merchandise so that American fans may wonder if it's actually a real team.
Warning: SPOILERS for Ted Lasso.
Ted Lasso is about a folksy American college football coach who is hired as the manager of a London-based soccer team, but is the show's AFC Richmond a real football club? Starring Jason Sudeikis as Ted Lasso, season 2 of the critically acclaimed Apple TV+ series just premiered and boasts a perfect 100% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Ted Lasso's success has raised awareness of football AKA soccer to American audiences, who may wonder whether AFC Richmond actually exists.
In season 1, Ted Lasso was imported and set up to fail by AFC Richmond's new owner Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham). Rebecca's goal was to sabotage AFC Richmond so that her English Premier League team would suffer relegation. This plot was Rebecca's elaborate revenge on her ex-husband, Rupert Mannion (Anthony Head), AFC Richmond's former owner. But while Ted Lasso was in over his head as a "gaffer", his genuine niceness and how much he truly cares for his players, and even his bosses, earned Ted the admiration and trust of the Brits. This included AFC Richmond's aging Captain, Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein), and their star player, Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster). Still, Ted's couldn't prevent AFC Richmond from being relegated from the Premier League in Ted Lasso's season 1 finale. Season 2 picks up with Ted Lasso and his team trying to rebuild without Roy and Jamie after a series of demoralizing losses.
Ted Lasso's production and attention to detail are so thorough and persuasive that American fans may be surprised to learn that AFC Richmond is a fictional football club. AFC Richmond is partly based on Crystal Palace F.C., which is also based in South London. Crystal Palace's team, nicknamed The Eagles, plays in the Premier League. Meanwhile, Richmond is a real part of London but the area's football team, Hampton & Richmond Borough F.C., play in the National League South, 5 divisions below the English Premier League. Both seasons of Ted Lasso also film at the Eagles' Selhurst Park football ground, although Crystal Palace also exists in the show's universe.
Ted Lasso has done an excellent job of creating the illusion that AFC Richmond is a real team, complete with the show's club adopting Crystal Palace's colors of red and blue. Boosting AFC Richmond's persuasive verisimilitude, the show has created a ton of AFC Richmond merchandise for sale so that fans can wear the colors of Ted Lasso's club. This even includes being able to purchase personalized AFC Richmond jerseys, as well as the requisite T-shirt, hats, mugs, and stickers. Part of the magic of Ted Lasso is the fictional AFC Richmond looks and feels as real as the biscuits Ted brings Rebecca every episode.
Ted Lasso shoots at Crystal Palace F.C.'s pitch to generate a palpable authenticity and the series even agreed to let the Eagles beat AFC Richmond on the show as payment for letting Ted Lasso use their stadium. Plus, most American fans don't know the difference between English soccer clubs and Ted Lasso plays into this since it reflects the mustachioed coach's own ignorance of the sport. For some Ted Lasso fans, AFC Richmond is their first real exposure to the game called soccer in America but is known as football everywhere else in the world, but the show's world is endearingly believable.
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