In real life, though, West Ham isn’t having an easy go of it this season. The Premier League team hasn’t finished low enough to face relegation — the league demotion that Richmond endured during season two — since the 2011 season. According to Sporting News, the team is currently on its longest Premier League campaign yet, having managed to rank among the top 17 teams in the entire English league (the bottom 3 of 20 get relegated) for 11 years and counting. And while it’s AFC Richmond that’s predicted to place dead last in the league in the new season, in real life, West Ham United currently ranks 18th, putting it in real danger of a downgrade.
With about a dozen more matches left this season as of publication time, West Ham still may have time to turn its record around and make an AFC Richmond-style comeback. They’re still no match for their “Ted Lasso” counterparts, though: while all the British newspapers in the show predict AFC Richmond will finish 20th, the fictional pundits also put West Ham United in the top 4. Fans may be gunning for a big Richmond win in the show, but the “Ted Lasso” cast actually donned West Ham colors last year to attend a game in support of their fake rivals. Actors including Cristo Fernández, Charlie Hiscock, David Elsendoorn, and Kola Bokinni all cheered for West Ham during a match last April, ScreenRant reported. Let’s hope this season turns out to be a case of art imitating life, with the real-life West Ham gaining some of their fictional counterparts’ good luck soon. We’ll keep our fingers crossed and our bubble blowers at the ready.
“Ted Lasso” streams on Apple TV+ with new episodes premiering each Wednesday.