A Pro Footballer on the Set of Ted Lasso (with Eniola Aluko)

Welcome back to the Crown & Anchor, Greyhounds! In this episode Marisa and Christian have a conversation with former England National Team player and current Sporting Director of Angel City FC, Eniola Aluko!

Ted Lasso fans may also recognize Eniola from her brief cameo appearance on the show in Season 2, Episode 5: "Rainbow." Eniola appears as a player in the scene where Roy and Ted encourage Isaac to participate in a pickup football match to help him find his joy in the game again.

Of course, it didn't take much acting for Eniola to look like one of the best players on the pitch. Though she recently retired from playing professionally, Eniola played for some of the biggest clubs in the world including the England & Great Britain National Teams, Chelsea, and Juventus. Post-retirement, she has worked as a television commentator and football executive, and is currently the Sporting Director of NWSL club Angel City FC in Los Angeles, California.

We chatted with Eniola about her experience on the Ted Lasso set, her career in professional football, and the incredible start that Angel City FC have experienced during their inaugural season in the National Women's Soccer League.

Discussed on this episode: 

• They Don’t Teach This: Lessons from the Game of Life by Eniola Aluko (Penguin Random House, 2019; via Amazon)
• Eniola’s Twitter [@EniAlu] and Instagram [@EniAluko] accounts
• Sports On Screen website
• Football Beyond Borders website
• Europe vs USA: Funding will determine the eventual winner (SBNation; All for XI, 2019)
• What Does the N.W.S.L. Want to Be? (New York Times, 2022)
• How Natalie Portman and her Angel City FC cofounders are changing the game for women’s soccer (Fast Company, 2022)
• Angel City rolls out the red carpet and a win in franchise’s memorable debut (Los Angeles Times, 2022)
• The dream of Angel City FC has become a reality (SBNation; Angels on Parade, 2022)
• What Angel City FC means for women’s soccer (Good Morning America, 2022; via YouTube)
• Angel City FC win inaugural NWSL regular season game in front of star-studded and festive crowd in Los Angeles (CBS Sports, 2022)
• Angel City chief Eni Aluko: Delete Twitter to stop online racist abuse (ESPN, 2021)
• Sudeikis wears t-shirt in support of Rashford, Sancho & Saka at Ted Lasso premiere (Goal, 2021)

Richmond Til We Die is an episode-by-episode conversation about the Apple TV+ show Ted Lasso, where we explore the characters, their relationships to each other, and how they're able to make us laugh until we can hardly breathe one moment and then feel with the deepest parts of our hearts the next. When you're here, you're a Greyhound!