Sunderland AFC or Sunderland Association Football Club is an English professional football club based in the city of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, Northern England, and featured in the Apple TV+ series, Ted Lasso.
Sunderland play in the Championship, the second tier of English football and has a long-standing rivalry with nearby club Newcastle United. The club have played in red and white-striped shirts and black shorts for nearly the entirety of its history.
Roy Kent was originally scouted by the club at the age of nine, and Keeley Jones is trying to pick his brain and be more open up as she explains his history in Sunderland; apparently as part of his contract, he was forced to rap his own verse in a charity single which was called "Winner, Winner, Football Dinner".
During a training session, Dani Rojas is injured; which players and staff members attributed this to a curse at the club. As Dani had entered the treatment room, it was believed he was cursed and would never play for the club again due to injury. Roy refuses to check the treatment room as he is very superstitious so Ted suggests that they should come to the treatment room and bring an item from each player at midnight to do a 'ghost cleansing' ritual ceremony.
Roy brings an old blanket given by his granddad when he was nine years old and scouted by Sunderland AFC. His granddad said that it would make little Roy warm and to remind him of home after he arrived in London. It was the last time he saw his granddad as he passed away during Christmas that year, which is why the blanket he called 'blankie' means a lot to him, so he tosses it to the bin.