Foreigners living in Japan have few opportunities to introduce their favorite sports teams. For English teachers, it's usually in front of a class of attentive elementary or junior high school students. For others, it's an easy way to start a conversation at their local bar, especially while a Premier League match is on.
So when "Foot!" presenter Ben Mabley had the opportunity to share his local club Taunton Town (based in Taunton, England), who currently play in England's seventh tier, with a television audience, he gladly made use of it.
"I thought, almost as a joke because obviously nobody cares about this, nobody in the U.K. even cares about this . . . But the reception to that from both people at (Japanese broadcaster) J Sports and viewers, was that people kind of liked the local touch," Mabley, 36, told From the Spot, recounting how the team known as the Peacocks became a semiregular fixture on the Monday edition of "Foot!" which focuses on English soccer.
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