TALKING HISTORY - Inside story of famous Norway vs England commentary: 'Your boys took one hell of a beating'

Forty five years later, it remains one of the most famous pieces of football commentary.

"Lord Nelson, Lord Beaverbrook, Sir Winston Churchill, Sir Anthony Eden, Clement Attlee, Henry Cooper, Lady Diana, vi har slått dem alle sammen, vi har slått dem alle sammen! [we have beaten them all, we have beaten them all!].

“Maggie Thatcher, can you hear me? Maggie Thatcher... your boys took a hell of a beating! Your boys took a hell of a beating!”

That was the night

Norway

beat

England

2-1 in a World Cup qualifier in September 1981. It is fair to assume that it might be played again a few times before England face Norway in Saturday’s

World Cup

quarter final in Miami.

The man who made it famous was the late, great Bjørge Lillelien who is still regarded in Norway as a national treasure nearly 40 years after his untimely death from cancer.

Lillelien was an inspirational figure in Norway. So much so that a book was written on that famous game but he was really at the heart of it all.

Back in 1981, England - with the likes of Kevin Keegan,

Trevor Francis

and Bryan Robson - were beaten by Norway thanks to goals from Roger Albertsen and Hallvar Thoresen.

It was an incredible moment, a huge upset which shocked English football and was arguably the making of the Norwegian national team.

It also made Lillelien famous across the

world

because his emotional, highly-charged outburst was so iconic as he listed all the famous names from English history.

Lillelien was the first-ever full time sports commentator, he worked for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation and his words just summed up the shock caused by such an unlikely win.

Norwegian commentator Arve Fuglum, who wrote a book “Gold for Norway - Passion for Sport: The Voices We Never Forget” about that night and Lillelien, says it was a huge moment for the country.

View 3 Images

Fuglum said: “In my book, I asked rhetorically: ‘do we remember the match, or do we remember the commentary?’ I think it’s a mixture.

“What is remarkable is that it was 15 years after England had been crowned as world champions. Now, 15 years ago is 2011. That is not long at all!

“You are talking about a country which really had no football history like England. We had one game a week shown on television and it was from England. They were heroes and we grew up watching.

“That is why Bjørge lost it. It was a huge moment and he summed it up perfectly. It is amazing to think that the commentary is as well known in England as it is in Norway.

“He was an inspirational figure. A national hero. He died young of cancer. It happened about two days before Norway played in East

Germany

in 1987 and yet they started the match with a minute’s silence.

“Can you imagine? They held a minute’s silence for a commentator. That is how important he was for Norway and Norwegian sport.

“He has been inspiring people ever since. That is why I wrote a book on it. It’s about the match itself but so much of it is about him. We still talk about it now and what it means.

“This is England. It was a moment in time for Norway and he captured it perfectly. It was a wonderful piece of history.”

Fuglum also recalls how the commentary came about. Lillelien loved history, politics and also

boxing

as he used to cover fights for a while in the

United States

after studying journalism in Chicago.

“That was probably where your boys took a hell of a beating came from,” he said. “He loved boxing and you had that.

“But he also loved politics and that is Maggie Thatcher. And Lady Diana. He would often go for a walk with his dog before games, gather his thoughts and, rather than write it down, it would stay in his head.

“That is why it came so naturally and clearly. He just reeled off the names but he had thought it through before. But it was not scripted - that was the best way.”

Fuglum is not at the World Cup but still commentates now in his native Norway although he is currently on holiday in England of all places.

He predicts a very tight game in the World Cup this Saturday. “I think it will go all the way. It might a finish a draw.

“We have great players with

Erling Haaland

and Martin Odegaard but we know how good England are. It will be tight. It could go to penalties - and we know what England think about penalties! But they probably have better penalty takers than us.”

That is what they thought back in 1981…