The former majority shareholder of Norwich City delivered the rallying cry.

It was delivered during a match against Manchester City and called on fans to get behind the team.

At the time, Norwich were battling relegation and had let a 2-0 lead slip to 2-2 by half-time.

She told fans: "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 having you! Come on!”

She says she had initially wanted to put a message on the screen encouraging fans to get behind the team but was told it was too late (Image: Sky)

Speaking on the Amol Rajan Connections podcast, Delia said: "You've got to set the context here.

"One of my biggest faults is I'm not aware of things and I wasn't aware that Sky were there that night."

Delia said she wanted to encourage a similar response when the atmosphere fell flat during the Manchester City game.

She continued: "They were like little church mice, you know, they weren't singing anything, they weren't cheering."

Delia Smith appeared on the Amol Rajan podcast talking about the infamous speech (Image: YouTube/Amol Rajan Connections)

Delia had wanted to display a message on the board to encourage fans to get behind the team but was told it was too late.

She added that contrary to popular belief, she was not drunk when she made her impassioned plea to supporters and that she had not practised what she was going to say when on the microphone.

"I wasn't drunk, you know, you're not allowed to be passionate in England unless you're drunk.

"If you're passionate, my god, you must be drunk, you know, it's not really how English people are."

Delia's rallying cry did not prove effective, with City ultimately losing the game 2-3 due to a late Robbie Fowler winner.

The interview with Amol Rajan was Delia's first since her husband of 55 years, Michael Wynn Jones, died.

Alongside Delia, he was also a majority shareholder in Norwich City before the couple sold their stake to a consortium led by Mike Attanasio in 2024.