Matthew SparkesDelia Smith has spoken about her legendary 'let's be havin' you' half-time rallying call at Carrow Road and called Norwich City the 'best football club in the world'.Matthew Sparkes

Delia Smith has spoken about her legendary 'let's be havin' you' half-time rallying call at Carrow Road and called Norwich City the 'best football club in the world'.

In the last of the five-part BBC2 series Delia Through the Decades last night, the TV cook looked back to the 2005 match between the Norwich City and Manchester City.

At the time the Canaries were facing relegation from the Premier League and the club's majority shareholder appeared on pitch at half-time to make an impassioned plea for support from fans.

'They just handed me the microphone and said 'go on, go and do it',' she said.

'I had heels on; the pitch was muddy. It was quite hard to walk.'

In front of thousands of supporters, and many television cameras, 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 havin' you! Come on!"

Her desperate plea led to headlines across the country, but failed to inspire a much-needed victory as Norwich lost 3-2.

Delia denied she had been drinking before the incident, but said: 'Everyone thought I was drunk'.

The impromptu speech may not have achieved its goal, but it did become an overnight sensation among fans.

When Norwich played Chelsea just five days later, supporters were seen wearing t shirts bearing the slogan 'lets be havin' you!'

Speaking to the show's narrator, fellow Norwich City fan Stephen Fry, she said that football was: 'the brightest shining star of community there is left.'

She added: 'You get people from 9 to 109 all together as one. We're talking about the best football club in the world.'

The series has looked back over Delia's five decades as a television cook, including her first broadcast recipe, alpine eggs, and her many bestselling books.

It also explored the phenomenon known as the Delia Effect, which was said to cause sales of certain types of food to sky-rocket after appearing on one of her shows.

The programme was the last in the series, but is still available to watch on BBC iPlayer at www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer

Do you have a story for the Evening News? Call reporter Matthew Sparkes on 01603 772439 or email matthew.sparkes@archant.co.uk