Apple TV+ hit series Ted Lasso tells the story of an American coach that comes to England to take over the management of AFC Richmond, a football club that is battling with a deteriorating performance and runs the risk of delegation. Everything takes place within the confines of football and the story unfolds both with the sport having a starting role and holding a background role in what is going on with the characters.
The series does such a good job in mixing fiction with reality, integrating real things and imagination, combining facts with myths that many people who are not football fans can’t tell the difference between what is real and what is not. For example, some bettors can even go as far as search for AFC Richmond in the EPL betting markets of top bookmakers, such as the sports betting sites in Malaysia, even though Richmond is a fictional club!
OK, for everyone who loves English football and follows closely what is going on in the top English leagues, Richmond is not real, but West Ham United and Manchester City are indeed very real. They are both the big rivals of Richmond and their greatest enemies both in the field and outside the field.
But the interesting thing is that the series has obtained license to use the brands in its story and often in ways that are not so flattering for the clubs themselves.
West Ham United is shown to be managed by Nathan Shelley, ‘the wonder kid’, who appears to be a person with questionable ethics and an inappropriate, often manipulative behaviour towards his beneficiaries or those who have helped him- enter Ted Lasso.
More on this, West Ham United seems to be at free range, as it is taken over by Rupert Mannion, former Richmond owner, who decides to buy the club only to get to his ex wife, who notably has stayed with Richmond after the divorce only to drive the club into absolute failure, to get to her ex husband! Quite a mess there uh?
Besides the name of the club, the colors of the uniform and the home field being the London Stadium, everything else that is shown in the series has nothing to do with reality. Even the footballers’ names are fictional and the truth is that they will remain fictional until the end of Ted Lasso.
As far as Manchester City are concerned now, again the series seems to be using some key, concrete facts such as their stadium, their top ranking in the Premier League, their uniforms but all other things are based on fiction. And in this case too, some aspects of the story are not very flattering for the club.
In the series’ first season, Jamie Tartt leaves AFC Richmond and signs with Manchester City in a big career move, only to end up leaving the Sky Blues to enter a reality show! So much for the big career in one of the best clubs in the English Premier League!
Interestingly, before the season three finale, one episode from the end, Richmond plays with Manchester City in a match that ends up with the victory of the fictional club after the two goals scored by Jamie Tartt -who, by the way, has returned to Richmond and fights against his former teammates!
And what is more interesting in mixing up fiction and reality is that in this match, Pep Guardiola appears on screen and plays himself! Manchester City’s manager shakes hands with Ted Lasso once the Citizens lose and is shown to agree that football is all about enjoying the sport and not about winning!