Michael Sheen appeared on the Sky Max sports and comedy panel show A League of Their Own, alongside Romesh Ranganathan, Aaron Ramsdale, Alex Brooker, Emily Atack, Micah Richards and Jamie Redknapp.
He was asked to come up with a speech for the Welsh football team who will be playing against the England team in the World Cup in Qatar. Clips of Michael’s incredible speech went viral the following day.
The speech seems to be based around the song Yma o Hyd (Still Here) by Dafydd Iwan, which Welsh football fans have adopted as a song to sing before matches.
Also see: Michael Sheen’s speech for the Wales football team
Here is the clip with subtitles included, but there is also a transcript below.
English transcript (has bits of Welsh in it!):
Romesh: Michael, as a proud Welshman you must be excited to, uh to be playing England in the World Cup this winter?
Michael: Oh yes!
Romesh: Uh, can I ask you could you give us a little burst of the sort of rousing speech that you might give the Welsh lads before they go?
Michael: Oh my god, that’s a big responsibility!
Romesh: Yes. Can we have some music please?
Michael: Alright, I have to get in the right headspace now.
Ok. Yma o Hyd… Yma o Hyd… I hear the voices singing. Speed your journey boys, bois bach. One nation singing with one voice, a song of hope, a song of courage, a victory song that floats through the valleys like a red mist, rolls over the mountain tops like crimson thunder. A red storm is coming to the gates of Qatar! It crackles with the spirit of ’58 and Jimmy Murphy’s boys, it turns the pages of the history books and finds Rob’s page, waiting still to be written. What would you write in there boys? Dare you write your names on that page? We haven’t waited 64 years and come halfway round the world to be troubled by a neighbour from back home! When the English come knocking on our door let’s give them some sugar, boys! Let’s give them some Welsh sugar! They’ve always said we’re too small, we’re too slow, we’re too weak, too full of fear. But Yma o Hyd! You sons of Speed! As they fall around us…
WE ARE STILL HERE!
COME ON WALES!