Ted Lasso is back for a fourth season, and I am eating it up! As someone who is used to bingeing an entire TV show in one go, the week between episode releases is making me so impatient for the next one to come out. If you’re looking for something to fill the soccer void that’s a little more heartwarming and plot-driven than the Premier League, here are five books to scratch that itch while you wait for the next episode.
Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman
If you want something that, much like Ted Lasso, focuses more on character development and found family than soccer (while still dropping enough references to make you feel like you know ball), this book is perfect. Britt-Marie leaves her husband and takes the only job she can find: a temporary position running the rec center—and, subsequently, the youth soccer team—in a dying town. If you’ve read Beartown by Backman, you’ll especially enjoy Britt-Marie Was Here.
Kulti by Mariana Zapata
This is a slow-burn sports romance that follows a professional female soccer player who shows up to practice one day to discover that her team has hired her favorite male soccer star (and childhood crush) as their new assistant coach. It also dives into many of the inequalities between men’s and women’s sports without making you feel like you have to choose one over the other.
Gods of the Game series by Ana Huang
If you prefer your sports romances a little steamier, you’ll love the Gods of the Game series. Each book follows a different soccer player—a striker, a defender, and a goalkeeper—giving you a well-rounded look into the love lives of a fictional Premier League team.
Spectacular Things by Beck Dorey-Stein
For full disclosure, I actually haven’t read this one yet, but my hold just arrived at the library, so I’ll be picking it up this weekend! From what I know about the book, it centers more on the relationship between two sisters than on soccer itself. But if you love Ted Lasso for the people and relationships rather than the game, this one sounds right up your alley.
A Woman’s Game: The Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of Women’s Soccer by Suzanne Wrack
My nonfiction lovers out there, this one’s for you! A Woman’s Game focuses on the history of women’s soccer, including the US Women’s National Team—one of the most successful women’s national teams in history—and how the sport has evolved into what it is today. As a USWNT fan, I love the spotlight this book shines on the sport and the women who have helped shape it.
Whether you’re here for the soccer, the romances, the found family, or just the general feeling of rooting for a bunch of lovable people trying their best, I hope one of these books gives you a little more of that Ted Lasso feeling while you wait for the next episode.
