Bjørge Lillelien (29 March 1927 – 26 October 1987) was a Norwegian sports journalist and commentator.
A commentator for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation from 1957 until just before his death from cancer in 1987, he commentated on many sports, but concentrated on winter sports and football.
Lillelien was a popular and engaged commentator. It was not unusual for people to turn off the sound on the TV and listen to him on the radio instead. Lillelien quoted by a colleague: "We shouldn't necessarily make a boring radio program even if it is a boring football match. We should make a sports show that excites people". As a person he was often introvert and quiet, the opposite of his on air persona.
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Most famously, he commentated on Norway's 2-1 victory against England in a World Cup qualifier in Oslo on 9 September 1981. At the end of the match, alternating between English and Norwegian, he proclaimed (in Norwegian) "We are best in the world! We have beaten England! England, birthplace of giants", before taunting a roll call of famous English people, usually quoted in an edited, English-only form as follows:
The full Norwegian/English version reads as follows:
The full version, completely translated to English:
Although the commentary was for Norwegian radio, it soon made its way to an English audience, and became quite famous in England, where it is generally regarded with good humour and even affection. The election campaign was the Norwegian parliamentary election of 1981, which was held on 13 and 14 September of that year.
In 2002 Lillelien's words were designated the greatest piece of sports commentary ever by The Observer's Sport Monthly magazine. Such is its place in British sporting culture that parodies of the commentary have been written to celebrate domestic sporting victories, such as the following when the England cricket team beat Australia to regain the Ashes in September 2005:
And again, when England's cricket team finally won a game against New Zealand on the 2006/7 one-day series, the BBC's web coverage came up with:
Following Scotland's 2-1 victory against Norway in Oslo in September 2005, the Daily Record parodied the quote, using known Norwegians:
The Deputy Editor of the Daily Record at the time, Murray Foote, since issued an apology for the inclusion of Vidkun Quisling in the quotation:
Following England's 14-9 defeat of France in the 2007 Rugby World Cup, a naturally excited Will Greenwood exclaimed "François Mitterrand! Michel Platini! Your boys took one hell of a beating!"
In advance of the Scotland v Norway game at Hampden on 10 October 2008, a parody was created by Tennent Caledonian Breweries (sponsor of the Scottish National Team) for radio and subsequently animated and posted on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKQc_Kx9Ln0
On 3 January 2010 when Leeds United beat Manchester United 1-0 in the F.A Cup third round a local radio commentator in leeds, said the following after the final whistle;
"Its over, that's it, yes, its all over Leeds united have won at Old Trafford. We've done it, the league 1 side have beaten the champions of England, they claim to be the best football team in the world but they have just been umiliated by the mighty leeds in their home ground. what a game, what a performance what a win. the united fans can not believe it they are shocked, they think its a bad dream but they need to wake up because this is real your team have been embarrassed at old trafford the theater of dreams. leeds have knocked them out of the fa cup. Man united have taken one hell of a beating."
"Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Alex Ferguson, Bobby Charlton, George Best, Dennis Law, Matt Busby, Roy Keane, Bryan Robson, Steve Bruce, we have beaten them all. Fergie, can you hear me? fergie your boys took a hell of a beating! Your boys took a hell of a beating!"
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