Brian Blessed has rocked the online community in the last 12 hours, after sharing a particularly robust version of Three Lions to spur on the Lionesses ahead of their game on Wednesday.
The England team will be playing against co-hosts Australia in the Women’s World Cup semi-finals on Wednesday morning.
It’s set to be a particularly emotional match as the Lionesses will be fighting for a place in their first ever World Cup final.
The Matildas – the nickname for England’s opponents – will also be pulling out all the stops out for this game, as it marks their first-ever World Cup semi-final. Prior to this year’s tournament, their greatest success was getting to the quarterfinals in 2007, where they lost against Brazil.
So, perhaps it’s not surprising that BBC Newsnight rolled out one of the country’s most animated performers to spur on the women’s team.
Blessed, who has starred in Blackadder and Star Wars, has arguably one of the most recognisable voices in British TV – and he used it to his full advantage on Tuesday night.
He recited the Three Lions song in spoken word form, getting progressively louder as he reached the chorus, “football’s coming home” – while his voice echoed around the BBC studio.
As the camera seemed to beck away, Blessed reached a new pitch, shouting: “Come on, Lionesses!”
The online response was... divided.
Some commended the 86-year-old’s efforts, and praised him for being a national treasure.
Others, however, were distinctly less impressed...