Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Ted Lasso Season 3 episode "(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea." Read at your own risk!
Ted Lasso is a show often celebrated for its overwhelming positivity, wholesomeness, and optimism. It's a surprise then to see that there are many Chelsea fans offended after watching the latest Season 3 episode with their Apple TV+ subscriptions. Following an episode that centered around Brett Goldstein's Roy Kent returning to Chelsea for the first time since he left the team, many real-life fans of the football club are upset the series disrespected a deceased legend of the team.
Chelsea fans are up in arms after word got out that Ted Lasso edited a banner erected in honor of a deceased player in the team's stadium to honor the fictional character Roy Kent. Check out the modified banner in the episode, which reads, "They Don't Make Them Like Roy Anymore." below:
The edited banner is just one letter off from the actual banner, which honors departed Chelsea player Ray Wilkins. Wilkins passed away in 2018 from cardiac arrest at the age of 61. Following his death, the club erected the banner in his honor which read, "They Don't Make Them Like Ray Anymore."
The edited banner hasn't sat well with a number of Chelsea fans, and they're not just mad at Ted Lasso. Some, like Twitter user @CarefreeJonty, had some words for the management of Chelsea and were upset that the organization greenlit a decision like this:
I like Ted Lasso. I think it’s a pretty good series and quite funny. I don’t like this at all though, this is disgusting and extremely disrespectful to Ray. It’s really disappointing that the club approved of this and thought it was a good idea.
At this point, it is not known whether or not Ted Lasso edited the banner with the clearance of the Chelsea club or not. In either case, fans are largely saying it wasn't right for Ted Lasso to alter it regardless of who gave permission to do so.
The faux pas feels like a rare misstep for Ted Lasso, which, as previously mentioned, hasn't exactly been known for controversy. In fact, one would think the most controversial thing about the series prior to this point was the fact that Season 3 might be the final season, despite fans wanting more. Brett Goldstein and others have confirmed the series was planned for three seasons, but there are still some fans hoping against hope that the series might change its mind.
I can certainly empathize with that feeling, especially given the recent revelation that AFC Richmond landed the Premier League's top free agent Zava. While it seemed in the premiere that Richmond was destined to be relegated back out of the league, their odds of surviving and maybe even winning a decent amount of games just seemingly shot up with this signing.
There are also plenty of other Ted Lasso story threads that fans are invested in. Obviously, people are going to want to know if Roy and Keeley's breakup will last, if Nate can thrive over in West Ham United as its head coach, and what Ted's future with the team will look like. There are just so many stories and so little time, so here's hoping the series can get to everything and also sidestep any further controversy.
Ted Lasso streams new episodes on Apple TV+ on Wednesdays. The stakes are high this season for AFC Richmond, so it'll be interesting to see how the series handles this pivotal season for the football club.
