Bjørge Lillelien was a Norwegian sports journalist and commentator for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. He was considered to be a popular and engaging personality who commentated on many sports, particularly winter sports and football. It was not unusual for Norwegians to turn off the sound on the TV and listen to him on the radio instead. In September 1981 he came to international prominence when he said “Your boys took a hell of a beating” in commentary following Norway's 2–1 victory against Englandin a World Cup qualifier.
Career
Lillelien went to Northwestern University to study journalism in 1948. After going back to Norway for his military service, he got a job in the newspaper Fremtiden, after which he joined the Norwegian broadcasting network. In 1963 he began a long-term working relationship with former Olympic champion skier Håkon Brusveen at a cross country ski race at Holmenkollen. This collaboration would last for the rest of Lillelien's working days. Brusveen continued to work for NRK after Lillelien's death. Although privately Lillelien was quite reserved and reflective, he developed a gregarious on-air persona. He said "We shouldn't necessarily make a boring radio programme even if it is a boring football match. We should make a sports show that excites people". He continued to work in broadcasting until just before his death from cancer in 1987.
"Your boys took a hell of a beating"
Lillelien commentated on radio on Norway's 2–1 victory against England in a World Cup UEFA qualifier in Oslo on 9 September 1981. At the end of the match, alternating between the English and Norwegian language, he exultantly proclaimed amidst scenes of jubilant Norway supporters and players in the football stadium: "We are best in the world! We have beaten England! England, birthplace of giants", before taunting a roll call of English historical figures: A significant portion of his excitement was due to how English football was held in very high regard in Norway at the time, as it was often easier to watch the Football League First Division on television in Norway than in England during the 1970s, with one match broadcast live each weekend, and with score updates from other simultaneous matches. Although the broadcast was initially meant solely for the Norwegian home audience its content soon made its way across the North Sea and became legendary in the history of sports commentary in England. In 2002 it topped a list of the “10 greatest bits of commentary ever” in The Guardian newspaper.
Full Norwegian/English version
The full Norwegian/English version reads as follows:
Translated version
The full version, completely translated to English:
Parodies and homages
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 in the 2006/7 one-day series, the 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, later issued an apology for the inclusion of Vidkun Quisling in the quotation: In advance of the Scotland v Norway game at Hampden on 10 October 2008, a parody was created by Tennent Caledonian Breweries for radio and subsequently animated and posted on YouTube. Following Manchester University winning University Challenge against the University of Cambridge Pembroke College in March 2012, a commentator for the Manchester student newspaper observed "We have beaten Pembroke College, Cambridge! Cambridge, birthplace of giants. Rab Butler, Clive James, Ted Hughes, William Pitt the Younger, Eric Idle, Peter Cook, Bill Oddie! Bill Oddie, can you hear me? Your boys took a hell of a beating!" The speech is also parodied in the 2001 British drama filmMean Machine, starring Vinnie Jones. In the film, at the conclusion of the match between the guards and the prisoners at the fictional Longmarsh prison, in a 3-2 win for the prisoners, the commentators, Bob Likely and Bob Carter quoted "Guards of Pentonville, Guards of Wandsworth, Walton nick in Liverpool, Policemen of Britain, Traffic Wardens, Parole officers, Wheel clampers, your boys have taken a helluva beating today, a helluva beating!".
