It’s only taken four seasons but Ted Lasso has finally paid homage to one of the most famous British football memes: Delia Smith’s rallying cry of “let’s be ‘avin’ you!’”
The Apple TV+ sitcom, starring Jason Sudeikis as an American football coach initially hired as a joke to coach Richmond AFC, saw Hannah Waddingham’s character emulate the iconic moment in this week’s episode.
In one scene of Wednesday’s episode, Waddingham’s Rebecca Welton – the owner of Richmond AFC’s women’s team – drunkenly takes the microphone at one of the team’s games after noticing that fan attendance has dropped. Speaking down the camera lens of the network broadcasting the game, a slurring Rebecca shouts: “Now, a message for the greatest football supporters in the world who are not here today.
“Where are you? Am I right? Where are you?“ she continued, before leading the crowd in a chant of that very phrase.
open image in galleryFans were quick to spot that Rebecca’s speech was similar to the one TV chef Delia Smith made at a 2005 Premier League game between Manchester City and Norwich City. Rallying the crowd during halftime, Smith – who was a majority shareholder in Norwich City at the time – took the microphone from the club announcer on the football pitch and said: “A message for the best football supporters in the world: we need a 12th man here.
“Where are you? Where are you? Let’s be ‘avin’ you! Come on!” she yelled.
Viewers took to X to comment on the similarities, with one writing alongside a video of Smith: “Just when I thought I couldn’t love the scene with Rebecca drunkenly shouting ‘WHEEERE ARRE YOUUU!!’ repeatedly anymore than I already do, I find out it’s based on this real life moment! #TedLasso”
“For international #TedLasso fans, Rebecca’s drunken call to arms is a homage to a real incident where England’s best known staid, prim, middle-class TV cook, Delia Smith, railed on the fans of her team,” another wrote on X. “An iconic Brit culture moment!”
Unfortunately, Norwich lost the match 3-2 and Smith issued a statement to defend her outburst. “My message to the fans was a totally spontaneous appeal from the heart aimed at trying to do everything we could to get behind Nigel Worthington and the team,” she said at the time, adding that “maybe in the heat of the moment I didn’t choose the best words”.
While on Desert Island Discs in 2024, Smith said that she completely forgot cameras were there when she made the speech, and while it’s “lovely” that fans quote the moment back to her, the initial reaction “wasn’t wonderful”.
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open image in gallery“The first week there were people in the press saying I should be brought before a disciplinary committee at the FA,” she said. “I go to away matches and they all call out ‘let’s be having you, Delia’. It’s lovely, I love it.”
Smith previously held a majority shareholding of 53 per cent with her husband Michael Wynn-Jones, with the pair also being club directors and honorary life presidents, but their involvement with the club came to an end after 28 years in 2024.
The current series of Ted Lasso is currently streaming on Apple TV+, with Ted returning to Richmond after several years to coach the club’s women’s team.