This London suburb is the real star of the hit TV series Ted Lasso

It's like a warm hug," says Emmy Mac, who runs Ted Lasso-themed tours around Richmond upon Thames, summarising the global appeal of smash-hit Apple TV series, set in the south-west London suburb. As a lifelong football tragic - psychologically incapable of calling it "soccer" - who grew up near Richmond, I was initially indifferent to the story of maverick American coach Lasso (played by Jason Sudeikis) arriving to lead an underperforming English team to further ignominy. Yet, like many, I was soon hooked on the show's offbeat humour, optimistic storylines and endearing characters like blancmange-hearted hard-man Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein), glam but complicated club PR woman Keeley Jones (Juno Temple) and self-doubting Amazonian boss-lady Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham).

Ted Lasso is a rare beast, a sport-based drama that has enchanted audiences, across all demographics, for three seasons, while winning countless awards.

The fourth season of the series, which kicked off on August 5, is hotly anticipated. Focusing on AFC Richmond's new women's football team, season four introduces another raft of idiosyncratic characters, including formidable coach Alice Chilton (Tanya Reynolds, from Sex Education), alongside much-loved figures like Ted, Rebecca and Keeley. While the scenario has changed, the series' location has not and I'm in Richmond, during the World Cup and while experiencing a muggy embrace from a London heatwave, to discover what lends Ted Lasso its sense of place.

The first thing I notice, strolling through the centre, is how understated the town's connection with the series is. There are no "Ted Lasso World" billboards, just an affluent London borough going about its business, with alleyways leading off the main street to Richmond Green. This tree-fringed grassy expanse, once the venue for medieval jousting tournaments, is where Ted regularly encounters locals, including an abusive older fan and teen female footballer, Shannon, who returns in series four. Today, it's strewn with sun-baking Londoners and off to one corner, occupied by locals enjoying some shade, is the bench where Ted often sits, plotting his next move.

The bench sits outside the pub that's central to Ted Lasso, the Prince's Head, renamed The Crown and Anchor in the series, home of fierce landlady Mae Green and three quirky supporters who watch games there. It's also where Ted memorably challenges Richmond's former owner, Rebecca's philandering ex-husband, Rupert, at darts. The connection is lightly held, a Ted Lasso shrine secreted in a corner, inside.

Alongside the pub is Paved Court, a shop-lined lane in which Ted Lasso's apartment is located (at 11a) and he's often seen, heading off to work. Also here, unremarkable among other shopfronts, is the Ted Lasso store, featuring a re-creation of AFC Richmond's dressing room.

On another corner of the Green is Rebecca's house, close to what remains of Richmond Palace, once the lavish seat of Tudor monarchs. Rebuilt in 1501 by Henry VII, it was where both he and Elizabeth I died, the latter spending her final hours standing, in a cupboard.

With the Thames always a crucial thoroughfare, flowing through London's only biparian borough (occupying both banks) for kilometres, Richmond is inundated with history, but, again, wears it unassumingly.

Reaching the riverside, I recognise the setting for several Ted Lasso scenes - including Roy and Keeley's first date - with Richmond Bridge, built in the 1770s, and the oldest surviving structure spanning the Thames, in the background.

On this sunny day, it's a sublime sight, with boats moored along the riverbank, the bridge's arches mirrored in the water, and the unexpected bonus of a soprano singing an aria, beside the Thames.

Yet, for all Richmond's charm, novelist Virginia Woolf, who lived here between 1914 and 1924 and is commemorated by a riverside statue, was not impressed.

"If it is a choice between Richmond and death," she declared, denouncing "the suffocating anaesthetic of the suburbs", "I choose death."

To be fair, Richmond has come a long way in 100 years, coincidentally the age long-term local, David Attenborough, recently attained. Apart from its 140 open spaces and royal heritage, the town has two theatres and several fine-dining restaurants. These include Michelin-starred The Dysart Petersham and Argentinian steakhouse Gaucho, outside which Roy reproves boss Rebecca over her latest love interest: "He's fine ... don't you dare settle for fine."

I have lunch with Ted Lasso tour guide Emmy Mac at another refined riverside restaurant, Scott's, a regular setting in season four, sharing water views and our passion for the series over delicious dishes like whole-roasted plaice with Calabrian chilli.

"I love how they tackle tough themes but wrap it up in a warm hug," enthuses Mac, "every character is grey, not black and white."

Overnight, I settle into Bingham Riverhouse, decadently watching the World Cup from a freestanding tub in my room and dining on the finest scallops I've tasted in the hotel restaurant, overlooking the Thames.

Ahead, I still have a day of cycling around Richmond Park and crossing the river to Twickenham, best known as the home of English rugby, taking in other Ted Lasso locations like The Press Room cafe.

However, as I soak in the tub, I recall how in my youth, like Virginia Woolf, I dismissed this leafy corner of London as stiflingly suburban. Now, thanks to the lure of an American coaching "soccer" and Ted Lasso's cast of colourful characters inhabiting this riverside town, there's nowhere I'd rather be.

The writer was a guest of Bingham Riverhouse and Visit Richmond