Skip to content

Ted Lasso mimics Delia's 'let's be having you' rant

Laura Devlin
BBC/PA Media A composite image of (left) a woman with blonde hair smiling at the camera in a black dress, and (right) a woman clapping and appearing to be calling out while sitting in a football terrace. She has short brown hair, a dark coat and a yellow and green scarf around her neck. BBC/PA Media
Hannah Waddingham's character raged at supporters - not unlike Delia Smith

For Norwich City fans, it's a familiar rallying cry.

For global fans of Ted Lasso, the Apple TV+ comedy drama following a US coach managing an English side - not so much.

In 2005, the Canaries' majority shareholder took to the pitch at half-time, grabbed a microphone and, to everyone's shock, angrily hollered "where are you?" at supporters.

And now, Delia Smith's infamous rant at Carrow Road has been celebrated in the TV show from across the pond.

The fictional AFC Richmond owner Rebecca Welton, played by Hannah Waddingham, lets rip at "the greatest football supporters in the world" - just as director Smith infamously did.

APPLE tv A man with short brown hair and moustache stands side on, facing a woman with blonde hair. They appear to be passing a small box between them. He is wearing a dark polo shirt, she is wearing a blue suit jacket. Behind them is a small white aeroplane. They are standing on a runway. The sky is blue.APPLE tv
The series stars Jason Sudeikis as Ted Lasso, with Hannah Waddingham his boss

Back then, the Canaries were slogging it out against Manchester City in their doomed fight against relegation from the Premier League when things got far more interesting in the break.

Smith took umbrage at the quiet crowd and shouted: "This is a message to the greatest football supporters in the world.

"We need a 12th man here - where are you? Where are you?

"Let's be having you!"

The moment was broadcast live by Sky Sports, just as Welton's outburst goes out on TV during a poorly-attended women's game.

In the latest episode in series four, she accuses fans of not being at the ground and shouts "where are you?", which is then chanted in the stands.

Welton is also seen swigging from a bottle of vodka in a cheeky nod to the suggestion, denied by Smith, that her tirade was inspired by anything other than a passion for the game.

Two women shoulder to shoulder in a head and shoulders image. The woman on the left is smiling and has long blonde hair parted in the middle and is wearing a black and gold top. The woman to the right has short brown hair and a green top. She is half smiling.
Smith told Desert Island Discs' host Lauren Laverne she "forgot Sky were there"

Smith has since stepped back from the club, ending her 28-year tenure in 2024 but remaining an honorary life president.

She reflected on that cold night in February almost 20 years later on the BBC's Desert Island Discs.

"I was trying to get somebody to put it on the message board – 'come on, where are you – because they were like church mice and we were losing," she told presenter Lauren Laverne.

"Somebody just gave me the microphone and said 'say it'… and I forgot, Lauren, I just forgot, that Sky were there, because you don't know they're there, you know what I mean?"

There had been calls in the press at the time for her to be disciplined by the Football Association, she added, but she now looked on her catchphrase with affection.

"I go to away matches and they all call out 'let's be having you, Delia'," she said.

"It's lovely, I love it."

It's not the first time Smith's been referenced in Ted Lasso, which has won a slew of awards, including an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series and acting gongs for Waddingham and Jason Sudeikis in the lead role.

In a previous series, Welton bemoaned the lack of women in football, and said: "There's, like, four of us: Me, Karren [Brady], Delia and Posh Spice".

Do you have a story suggestion for Norfolk? Contact us below.

Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.

More on this story