As a massive Ted Lasso fan (apart from Season 3), it really doesn’t take much to get me excited about AFC Richmond showing up somewhere outside the show. I’m also watching Season 4 right now, which makes the timing of Richmond’s return in EA Sports FC 27 feel even better. After going three years without a new season, Ted is back at Richmond, the club is suddenly part of the weekly conversation again, and EA is teasing AFC Richmond on FC 27‘s cover with that familiar yellow “Believe” sign. I’m already thinking about Richmond every week because of the show, and now EA is putting the club right back in front of me at pretty much the exact same time.
Ted Lasso Season 4 premiered on August 5 and is running through October 7, while EA Sports FC 27 launches right in the middle of that on September 25, with early access beginning September 18. EA has also already given AFC Richmond its own place on FC 27‘s official Cover Discovery Hub, where it specifically references Ted coaching Richmond’s women’s team. We still don’t know exactly how much of Richmond is going to be playable in the final game, so there’s no reason to get ahead of what EA has actually announced. But even without knowing every detail yet, the timing couldn’t really be much better.
Ted Lasso Season 4 Has Put AFC Richmond Back in the Spotlight
People didn’t necessarily stop caring about Ted Lasso when Season 3 ended—although, I’ll admit I stopped caring about it around halfway through that particular season. Nevertheless, the show was obviously still huge, and AFC Richmond had already become one of those fictional teams that somehow feels real after you’ve spent enough quality time with it. But there’s still a pretty big difference between remembering how much you loved a show and actively watching new episodes of it every week. Season 4 has put Richmond back in front of us again, and that’s exactly what makes FC 27‘s timing so undeniably perfect.
Who’s That Character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
That’s what FIFA 23 didn’t quite have. AFC Richmond made its EA debut there in 2022, and EA honestly went way further with the crossover than I expected. Ted Lasso could be used as a manager in Career Mode, Richmond could be swapped into a playable league, and the team was available in Career Mode, Kick-Off, Online Friendlies, and Online Seasons. Nelson Road was there, too, along with players like Jamie Tartt, Dani Rojas, Sam Obisanya, Roy Kent, and Isaac McAdoo. Richmond-themed content also made its way into Ultimate Team and Pro Clubs.
And people actually used the team, too. Less than a month after FIFA 23 launched, EA revealed that AFC Richmond had already won more than one million matches. That’s pretty wild for a football club that doesn’t technically exist, but it also makes sense. Part of the fun of Ted Lasso has always been how easy it is to get invested in Richmond like it’s a real club. Putting the team in FIFA 23 gave fans another way to live in that world for a while.
Season 4 has put Richmond back in front of us again, and that’s exactly what makes FC 27‘s timing so undeniably perfect.
The only thing FIFA 23 was missing was the timing FC 27 has now. FIFA 23 launched in September 2022, while Ted Lasso Season 3 didn’t premiere until March 2023. Richmond was already popular, obviously, but the game wasn’t launching while everyone was actively watching new episodes. However, FC 27 is, and that’s a pretty big difference when the entire appeal of this crossover depends on people wanting more of Richmond.
FC 27 Has a Chance to Do Something Different With Richmond This Time
The other thing that makes Richmond’s return more interesting is that the club itself isn’t in the same place it was during FIFA 23. Season 4 has Ted coaching Richmond’s second-division women’s team, and EA’s own FC 27 material already acknowledges that. That gives EA an opportunity to make this more than just a repeat of what it did a few years ago.
Again, we don’t know exactly what that means yet. EA hasn’t confirmed which modes AFC Richmond will be available in, whether both Richmond teams will be playable, which characters will appear, or whether Nelson Road is returning. I’d love for EA to go as far as it did with FIFA 23, but until it actually says that, there’s no reason to pretend any of it is guaranteed.
Still, the setup is there for something really fun. Women’s football has a much bigger presence in EA’s series now than it did when Richmond first appeared in FIFA 23. FC 27 includes competitions like the Barclays Women’s Super League, Liga F, Frauen-Bundesliga, Premiere Ligue, NWSL, and UEFA Women’s Champions League, so a season of Ted Lasso built around a women’s team fits the current version of the series really well.
Season 4 has Ted coaching Richmond’s second-division women’s team, and EA’s own FC 27 material already acknowledges that.
But that’s the part that probably interests me most, because EA could have brought Richmond back in FC 24, and it could have done it in FC 25 or FC 26. I probably would have been happy to see the club in any of those games, because again, I’m a huge Ted Lasso fan. But none of those years would have had this same kind of impact due to their timing.
By the time FC 27 launches, Ted Lasso Season 4 will still be airing. I’ll still be watching it alongside my wife, and a lot of other people will be too. Richmond will already be fresh in our minds, and this new season is giving the club a different direction that EA can potentially pull from instead of simply recreating what it did in FIFA 23.
That’s why this doesn’t feel like EA just bringing back an old crossover because people liked it the first time. The timing actually gives the return a reason to happen now. Ted Lasso is back. Ted is back at Richmond. AFC Richmond is back in the spotlight. If EA was ever going to bring the Greyhounds back into its football series, this was the year to do it.
- Released
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September 25, 2026
- ESRB
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Everyone / Users Interact, In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items)
- Developer(s)
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EA Canada, EA Romania
- Multiplayer
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Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op, Local Multiplayer, Local Co-Op
