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Ever thought your football team might be under a curse like Ted Lasso’s? Here’s how to lift it | Helen Pilcher

From Mayo to Birmingham City, sports lore is rife with powerful hexes. There’s nothing mystical about the dread and self-doubt they can induce

As the new season of Ted Lasso started, I was reminded of one of the show’s stranger storylines. When Dani “Football is life!” Rojas gets injured, his teammates blame the incident on a curse said to haunt the treatment room.

Absurd? Perhaps. But sports curses aren’t just fictional plot devices. Football is fertile ground for stories of mysterious forces, blamed for everything from missed penalties to decades of failure.

Helen Pilcher is a science writer and author of Life Changing: How Humans Are Altering Life on Earth and This Book May Cause Side Effects

Aug 9, 2026 Psychology Football Sport

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Psychology Aug 9, 2026 Ever thought your football team might be under a curse like Ted Lasso’s? Here’s how to lift it | Helen Pilcher From Mayo to Birmingham City, sports lore is rife with powerful hexes. There’s nothing mystical about the dread and self-doubt they can induceAs the new season of Ted Lasso started, I was reminded of one of the show’s...

Ever thought your football team might be under a curse like Ted Lasso’s? Here’s how to lift it | Helen Pilcher

From Mayo to Birmingham City, sports lore is rife with powerful hexes. There’s nothing mystical about the dread and self-doubt they can induceAs the new season of Ted Lasso started, I was reminded of one of the show’s...

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Ever thought your football team might be under a curse like Ted Lasso’s? Here’s how to lift it | Helen Pilcher

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