Ted Lasso Is Back And Richmond Fans Have a Whole New Team to Believe In

Ted Lasso is returning for a fourth season, but AFC Richmond is about to look very different.

After three years away and what appeared to be a carefully constructed farewell, Apple’s feel-good football phenomenon will return on 5 August with Ted taking charge of the club’s new women’s team.

The moustache remains. The “Believe” philosophy remains. But this is not simply the old show being warmed up for another lap of honour.

As co-creator and Coach Beard actor Brendan Hunt told The Hollywood Reporter, the writers initially viewed a women’s team as “checking the viability of the soil”. Brett Goldstein, who plays Roy Kent and remains part of the writing team, described the new season as “adding a room to the bar” rather than creating a separate spin-off.

That feels like the most exciting way to approach Season Four.

Ted Lasso’s original three-season arc reached its natural conclusion when Ted returned to Kansas to be closer to his son. Bringing him straight back to coach the same group of players would have risked undoing that ending. Instead, the Lady Greyhounds give the series a reason to exist beyond nostalgia.

Jason Sudeikis began reconsidering the show’s future in early 2024, gathering its writers in California to explore whether there was genuinely more story to tell. The answer eventually became a new team, a fresh sporting challenge and another three-season arc that Sudeikis says he already has in mind.

Rebecca, Keeley and Roy will all return, alongside Ted and Beard, but much of the focus will shift towards AFC Richmond’s new players and coaches. The biggest new addition is Tanya Reynolds as the team’s prickly assistant coach, despite Reynolds admitting she had never kicked a football before taking the role.

Very Ted Lasso.

There should also be plenty of familiar emotional territory. Hannah Waddingham and Juno Temple have reportedly become unofficial mentors to the new cast, preparing them for the attention that followed the original show’s explosion into a global hit.

The creative team appears determined to recapture some of the simplicity and warmth of the first season. Goldstein believes the new episodes possess “some of that season one magic”, while early instalments are said to be considerably shorter than the increasingly lengthy episodes of Season Three.

That may be just as important as the change of team.

At its best, Ted Lasso was never really about football. It was about damaged people finding confidence, friendship and a place where they belonged. A new group of players gives the show another opportunity to tell those stories without repeating itself.

There is risk, of course. Some viewers will miss the original Richmond squad, while others may feel that the Season Three finale should have remained the ending. But Ted Lasso has always believed that curiosity is better than judgement.So perhaps we should take its advice. A new team is waiting. The changing room door is open. And the “Believe” sign is ready to go back on the wall.