‘DISRESPECTFUL’

Chelsea Fans Slam Tweaking of Late Player’s Memorial Banner for ‘Ted Lasso’

A banner reading “They don’t make them like Ray any more” in reference to Ray Wilkins, who died in 2018, was changed slightly to read “Roy” for the Apple TV+ series.

In this week’s episode of Ted Lasso, a banner hanging over the stands of Chelsea Football Club reads “They don’t make them like Roy anymore,” in loving homage to the Apple TV+ series’ character Roy Kent, who once played for the team. The only problem with that, as Chelsea fans made clear on social media after the episode’s airing, was that the banner is apparently a slightly modified version of a real-life one that hangs in the real-life stadium, memorializing a real-life player, Ray Wilkins, who died in 2018. The “Ray” banner is fan-funded, according to Chelsea Supporters’ Trust, which noted on Thursday that many supporters “have seen this edit to be disrespectful.” Co-owner Todd Boehly, himself a divisive figure among fans, took to Twitter to address the matter. “We had nothing to do with these arrangements,” he wrote, adding that the deal with Apple TV had been struck before the club changed hands last year. “We are sorry it affected so many and mostly we care about Ray and his family.”