Johannesburg — It’s not everyday that a fictional football club gets called out by the champions of the English Premier League, but late on Tuesday night, that is just what happened.
In a cheeky post on Twitter, Manchester City reminded AFC Richmond, and their coach Ted Lasso, that they have yet to defeat the current, undisputed giants of English club football. In the post, accompanied by a graphic of the very real City coach Pep Guardiola facing off against his invented counterpart Lasso, the post reads: “It’s matchday. Time for the Premier League champions to take on AFC Richmond.”
🔵 It's Matchday 🔵
— Manchester City (@ManCity) May 23, 2023
Time for the @premierleague champions to take on @AFCRichmond! 💪 pic.twitter.com/CwTFMChc0G
The graphic then reminds Sky Blues supporters that the clash kicks off at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday, 23 May. It will have surely caught the attention of Trent Crimm and his whimsical musings.
If you are a bit flustered by the post and don’t have a cooking clue what it all means, you should familiarise yourself with the hit AppleTV show Ted Lasso. In short, the show — now in its third season — revolves around the fictional Richmond — aka the Greyhounds — hiring an American football coach — the titular Ted Lasso, played by Jason Sudeikis — to coach their Premier League team.
Hijinks ensue, drama unfolds but most importantly life-lessons are learnt and positive vibes touch them feels in a show that is more concerned about the feel-good moments than any overly dark and exhausting drama.
Easy there “champs”
— AFC Richmond (@AFCRichmond) May 23, 2023
We still have two matches left 😉 https://t.co/2nI1KAKnoh
The popularity of the show has not been lost on City, who acknowledged one of the overarching storylines in their post. Not to give too much away, and with a SPOILER warning in effect, City are the whale to Richmond’s Captain Ahab.
The replies to the post were certainly entertaining as fans of the show and the club got into the spirit of things, swapping banter, and warning the champions to watch out for the dangerous and in-form Jamie Tartt — one of the central characters of the show.
On a platform that can be toxic at the best of times, it was one of those rare moments that, much like Ted Lasso, warmed the cockles of the heart.
IOL Sport