Learn English Through Football

Damian Fitzpatrick
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  • LANGUAGE LEARNING
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Learn English Through Football

Welcome to the Learn English Through Football Podcast for all learners of English who love the beautiful game of football.

  1. 7 HR AGO

    Learn English Through Football Podcast: (to) Mark a Debut

    Learn English Through Football Podcast: (to) Mark a Debut In this week's football-language podcast we look at the phrase, 'to mark a debut', and how it is used in football. We also look ahead to some of the big international matches this weekend including games from the World Cup qualifiers in Asia, Europe and South America. You can read the transcript for this podcast below, while you can also check out our glossary of footballing phrases here and visit our site to access all our previous posts and podcasts. If you have any suggestions or questions then you can contact us at admin@languagecaster.com. https://languagecaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/podcast.mark_.a.debut_.220325.mp3 Hello DB: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast. Hi there listener, my name is Damon and I'm recording this show in Japan, where spring has finally come. There was snow a few days ago in Tokyo but now everyone is looking forward to the cherry blossoms and warmer weather. What's the weather like where you are? I hope it is good. I wonder how Damian in London is doing? Damian? DF: Hello Damon and hello everyone, I hope we are all doing well and enjoying all the international football. I am in a pretty good mood as my team Ireland managed to win a game away from home this time in Bulgaria in the first leg of a play-off in the Nations League. I know some people don't really like the international break but I think this one is really interesting as there are 2026 World Cup qualifiers taking place around the world and also some big Nations League games too. I know that we will be looking at some of the big games from those tournaments in our predictions later on but Damon what else do we have on today's show? Today's Show DB: Yes, a lot of people don't like these international breaks when the domestic football season is in full swing, but you've got to play qualifiers sometime. I'm always worried that one of my team's players will get injured on international duty, so fingers crossed this time! On the show today, I'm going to start by looking at some football language from one of the international matches, England versus Albania. The phrase is 'to mark a debut'. After that, we will have Damian and his predictions for some of the other matches taking place around the world, and we'll finish with some details on how you can contact us, ask questions, or give us feedback - we also have an apology and a correction for Newcastle United fans! Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Italian) DB: Yes, you are listening to Languagecaster.com and that message, or stinger, was in Italian. We'll have more of these messages in different languages throughout the show - can you guess which languages they are? We'll have the answers at the end of the show. Here's one to get you started. Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Persian) (To) Mark a debut DB: OK, let's start with today's football language phrase, which is to mark a debut. In football, a debut is someone's first appearance for a team, or their first game played for a team. We usually use the verb 'make' - make a debut - to say a player is making their first start for the team. When we talk about a player,

    12 min

  2. 4 DAYS AGO

    Football Phrase of the Week: End a Trophy Drought (Carabao Cup Final 2025)

    Football Phrase of the Week: End a Trophy Drought In this football phrase of the week we look back at the Carabao Cup final between Newcastle and Liverpool in which Newcastle ended their trophy drought when they defeated Liverpool 2-1. You can read the transcript for this post below, while you can also check out our glossary of footballing phrases here and visit our site to access all our previous posts and podcasts. If you have any suggestions or questions then you can contact us at admin@languagecaster.com. https://media.blubrry.com/footballlanguage/content.blubrry.com/footballlanguage/FootballPhraseoftheWeek_EndaTrophyDrought_CarabaoCupFinal2025-esv2-97p-bg-50p.mp3 DF: Hello everyone. This is Damian from the Languagecaster team and I hope you are all doing well. Welcome to this week's football phrase, which is when we look back at an expression from the weekend's football and today we explain, 'to end a trophy drought' after Newcastle's win over Liverpool in the 2025 Carabao Cup final. So, Newcastle United have finally won some silverware after they defeated Liverpool 2-1 in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday. Newcastle fully deserved their win as they outplayed a rather tired-looking Liverpool side. This was the first time that Newcastle have won a trophy since 1971 [actually 1969!] when they won the European Fairs Cup (now called the Europa League); while the last time they won a trophy in England was the 1955 FA Cup. This means that they had not won a domestic trophy in 70 years. When a team goes a long time without winning anything we can say that they are experiencing a drought, so for Newcastle the 70-year trophy drought is now over - they have finally ended their trophy drought. We can also hear the word drought in football to describe other long periods of time without successfully doing anything. So, for example a forward or even a team who has failed to score a goal in a long time is suffering from a goal drought. We have explained this term before when describing a striker who cannot score over a period of games. This weekend in a Premier League match Manchester United's Rasmus Hojlund scored his first goal in 21 matches to finally end his goal drought. So, Newcastle secure  (or win) their first domestic trophy in 70 years which included nine defeats in a row at Wembley. I wonder will this inspire my team Tottenham to end their trophy drought - we have not won since 2008 so only a 17 year drought. Still time! * Example: Eddie Howe ‘will never forget’ day Newcastle broke trophy drought (Guardian.co.uk, March 17 2025) Stinger: You are listening to Languagecaster (from a Brazilian fan) Yes, that message was in Portuguese from a Brazilian fan. Enjoy all the football this week and we'll see you again later on in the week in our regular weekly language podcast when we'll be looking ahead to the week...

    3 min

  3. 6 DAYS AGO

    Learn English Through Football Podcast: Interview with Hatriqa

    Learn English Through Football Podcast: Interview with Hatriqa In this week's football-language podcast we have an interview with Mark Bailey from Hatriqa (www.hatriqa.com) in which we look at some more ways to use football to help learn literacy skills. We also look ahead to some of the big matches this weekend in our predictions, including the League Cup final and some top-of-the-table clashes in Spain, Italy and France. You can read the transcript for this podcast below, while you can also check out our glossary of footballing phrases here and visit our site to access all our previous posts and podcasts. If you have any suggestions or questions then you can contact us at admin@languagecaster.com. https://media.blubrry.com/footballlanguage/content.blubrry.com/footballlanguage/LearnEnglishThroughFootballPodcast_hatriqa.mp3 Hello DB: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast. Hello everyone and welcome to the show for all those who love the beautiful game of football and who want to improve their English language skills. My name is Damon. I hope you are well and enjoying good weather like we are here in Tokyo. I wonder what the weather is like in London where Damian is based. DF: Hi Damon and hello to all our listeners. The weather here in London is bright but very, very cold indeed - we even had hail earlier on in the week. But I am in a good mood as it's the day after my favourite team Tottenham defeated Dutch side AZ Alkmaar in the second leg of their Europa League last-16 tie. Spurs won 3-1 on the night to go through 3-2 on aggregate though it was quite tense for a long time. DB: Congratulations to Spurs! Well my team, Liverpool were dumped out of the Champions League in the round of 16 by PSG. Thanks for asking, Damian! We did some football language earlier in the week, smash and grab, describing Liverpool's lucky win late on against PSG in the first leg. You can also check out our post on 'cutting edge', which is something Liverpool lacked in the second leg! So listener, if you haven't checked these out please do: we are on all the podcast feeds out there - just search for Languagecaster or Learn English Through Football and you'll find us. Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (Liverpool fan) Today's Show Hatriqa - The Football English Specialists DB: Well, we have a special show today, as we welcome Mark Bailey, who is the Director of Education from the football language company Hatriqa.com, and he will be talking about his work and of course look at some football language. After that, you will be giving us your predictions, Damian, for some big games this weekend. Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Korean) DB: Yes, you are listening to Languagecaster.

    18 min

  4. 12 MAR

    Football Phrase of the Week: Cutting edge

    Football Phrase of the Week: Cutting edge In this football phrase of the week we look back at Manchester United vs Arsenal game and the phrase, 'cutting edge'. You can read the transcript for this post below, while you can also check out our glossary of footballing phrases here and visit our site to access all our previous posts and podcasts. If you have any suggestions or questions then you can contact us at admin@languagecaster.com. https://media.blubrry.com/footballlanguage/content.blubrry.com/footballlanguage/FootballPhraseoftheWeek_Cuttingedge.mp3 Cutting edge http://gty.im/2203944953 DF: Hello everyone. This is Damian from the Languagecaster team and I hope you are all doing well. Welcome to this week's football phrase - a couple of days late, apologies for that. This, of course, is when we look back at some of the language from the previous weekend's football. So, in this week's football expression we explain, 'cutting edge' which came from the Premier League game between Manchester United and Arsenal. Stinger: You are listening to Languagecaster (Ferencvaros fan) The game finished 1-1 with the hosts Manchester United taking the lead just before half time before Arsenal equalised in the second half. Arsenal had lots of possession and dominated the game but were unable to create too many clear chances; they lacked a cutting edge; they had no attacking threat. So, lacking a cutting edge in football suggests that a team struggles to score a goal or even to create a chance. This might be because they don't have a top class striker; they don't have enough firepower or maybe they don't have enough creativity in their team. This seems to be the case for Arsenal as they dominated the ball but were unable to find a way past the opposition defence - they lacked a cutting edge. * Example: Arsenal dominated the opening 45 minutes at Old Trafford but lacked any cutting edge (BBC.co.uk) In another recent Premier League game, West Ham were beaten by Newcastle at home despite having lots of possession of the ball. According to the BBC they, 'barely threatened the Newcastle goal, with the rare attacks they did have breaking down once they got to the final third.' This means that when they approached the final third; that's their opponents' penalty area - they didn't cause any trouble for the defence; they lacked firepower or any cutting edge. We have seen that the phrase, 'cutting edge' often appears with 'lack' - the team is missing something, it does not have enough cutting edge (they lack a cutting edge) but sometimes it can be used in a more positive way. In the following example, we can see that Pep Guardiola's experience and focus is an advantage for his Manchester City side: * Example: Relentless Pep Guardiola’s laser focus gives Manchester City cutting edge (Guardian.co.uk, May 11 2024) Stinger: You are listening to Languagecaster (in Greek) Can you think of any more examples like this? And how would you say this expression, 'cutting edge' or 'to lack a cutting edge' in another language that you know?

    4 min

  5. 10 MAR

    Learn English Through Football Podcast: Smash and Grab

    Learn English Through Football Podcast: Smash and Grab In this week's football-language podcast we look at the phrase, 'smash and grab' after Liverpool's victory over PSG in the Champions League last-16 first leg. We also look ahead to some of the second leg ties, including the return game between Liverpool and PSG at Anfield. You can read the transcript for this podcast below, while you can also check out our glossary of footballing phrases here and visit our site to access all our previous posts and podcasts. If you have any suggestions or questions then you can contact us at admin@languagecaster.com. https://media.blubrry.com/footballlanguage/content.blubrry.com/footballlanguage/LearnEnglishThroughFootballPodcast_SmashandGrab.mp3 Hello DF: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast. DF: Hello everyone and welcome to the show for all those who love the beautiful game of football and who want to improve their English language skills. My name is Damian and I am in a cold but bright London as Spring is finally here! I am one half of the Languagecaster team and of course the other member is Damon who is based in Tokyo in Japan; though he was in the UK recently on a flying visit - a quick visit - and it was great to catch up with him though he did only want to keep talking about Liverpool's season... And apologies for the slight delay in this week's show and that we did not have a full podcast last week - it's been a really busy time for us both. However, we have posted a couple of football phrases of the week including, 'to hang on for the win' and 'reckless challenge'. This phrase was connected to the x-rated tackle on Crystal Palace striker Mateta by the Millwall goalkeeper in last week's FA Cup 5th Round tie. It really was a reckless tackle. Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (Dulwich Hamlet fan) Today's Show DF: Right, what's on this week's podcast? Well, we have a Champions League 'feel' to the show as we start by looking back at some of the language from the last-16 first leg game between PSG (Paris Saint Germain) and Liverpool. We'll also explain the phrases, 'weather the storm'; 'to produce a save' and 'smash and grab'. Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Japanese) DF: Yes, you are listening to Languagecaster.com and that message, or stinger, was in Japanese and we'll be hearing some more languages throughout the show - can you guess which ones they are? We'll have the answers at the end of the show. Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Irish) DF: Right, let's take a look at some of the language from that PSG-Liverpool game, starting off with the expression, 'weather the storm'. Weather the storm http://gty.im/2202908758 DF: PSG hosted Liverpool in the first leg of their last-16 game last week and the home side completely dominated the game right from the kick off.

    10 min

  6. 4 MAR

    Football Phrase of the Week: Reckless Challenge

    Football Phrase of the Week: Reckless Challenge In this football phrase of the week we look back at the FA Cup fifth round game between Crystal Palace and Millwall and the phrase, 'reckless challenge'. You can read the transcript for this post below, while you can also check out our glossary of footballing phrases here and visit our site to access all our previous posts and podcasts. If you have any suggestions or questions then you can contact us at admin@languagecaster.com. https://media.blubrry.com/footballlanguage/content.blubrry.com/footballlanguage/FootballPhraseoftheWeek_RecklessChallenge.mp3 Reckless Challenge DF: Hello everyone. This is Damian from the Languagecaster team and I hope you are all doing well. Welcome to this week's football phrase which is when we look back at some of the language from the weekend's football. So, in this week's football phrase we explain the phrase, 'reckless challenge' and this is from the FA Cup fifth round game between Crystal Palace and Millwall. The Millwall goalkeeper, Liam Roberts, was sent off after a really bad tackle on Crystal Palace striker Mateta after only eight minutes. The referee initially only gave a yellow card; as he saw it as a careless tackle. But after checking with VAR he changed his mind and sent the goalkeeper off as he felt it was reckless. This word reckless means that there is little care involved and that something has happened without any thought or protection for another person, or in this case, another player. And this is what the Millwall keeper did when he kicked the Crystal Palace forward in the head - he didn't appear to think about the possible danger for the opposition player. The injured player received 25 stitches in hospital but was thankfully able to go home afterwards - he was discharged from the hospital. The Crystal Palace chairman, Steve Parrish, was really angry after the game and felt that this was one of the worst challenges (or tackles) that he had ever seen. However, the opposing manager felt that his goalkeeper had simply mistimed his challenge - though it is hard to agree with that as his keeper almost kung-fu kicked the Palace forward. Other phrases that we might hear include, 'X-rated tackle' or 'horror tackle' and these describe these types of dangerous challenges because they are simply so bad. Here is what the laws of the game say about such a tackle. Example: Reckless is when a player acts with disregard to the danger to, or consequences for, an opponent and must be cautioned (FA.com - Laws of the game) And here's another example, this is from the BBC: * Example: Mateta 'doing well' after 25 stitches in ear following 'reckless challenge' (BBC.co.uk) And here's another example, this time from the Manchester United vs Ipswich game:

    4 min

  7. 27 FEB

    Football Phrase of the Week: Hang on for a win

    Football Phrase of the Week: Hang on for a win In this football phrase of the week we look at the phrase, 'to hang on for a win' from the Manchester City win at Tottenham last week. You can read the transcript for this podcast below, while you can also check out our glossary of footballing phrases here and visit our site to access all our previous posts and podcasts. If you have any suggestions or questions then you can contact us at admin@languagecaster.com. https://media.blubrry.com/footballlanguage/content.blubrry.com/footballlanguage/FootballPhraseoftheWeek_Hangonforawin.mp3 Hang on for a win http://gty.im/2202143524 DF: Hello everyone. This is Damian from the Languagecaster team and I hope you are all doing well. Welcome to another weekly football phrase which is when we look back at some of the language from the world of football. So, in this week's football phrase we explain the expression, 'hang on for a win' from the recent Manchester City win at Tottenham. DF: Manchester City started the game really well against a very young and inexperienced Tottenham side and went into the half-time break with a 1-0 lead though most pundits and fans felt that they should have scored more; they should have been further ahead. But in the second half Spurs hit back and created many chances to equalise and by the end of the game City were hanging on to their lead. Now, to hang on to something is an expression that means you have to work really hard to keep or to hold on to something; you can't let go of it. So, in football this phrase is often used to describe a hard-fought win when a team is winning in a game but has to work really hard to keep that lead. So, in the Tottenham-Manchester City game, City were leading but they had to work really hard to maintain this lead as Spurs pressed for an equaliser in the second half. Although they were winning 1-0, they were no longer comfortable and they only just held on for the victory; they held on for the three points. Now, some people felt that this was a game of two halves with one side, Manchester City, playing really well in the first half and then the other side, Tottenham, playing well in the second half. Unfortunately for Spurs they were not able to grab an equaliser so I wonder if it really was a game of two halves! * Example: Erling Haaland scored on his return to action as Manchester City held on for victory against Tottenham Hotspur to improve their hopes of a top-four finish. (BBC.co.uk Febryary 27 2025) * Example: Park grabs winner as England (Lionesses) hold on for Nations League victory over Spain (Guardian.co.uk February 27 2025) Stinger: You are listening to Languagecaster (in Greek) Can you think of any more examples like this? And how would you say this expression, 'to hang on for a win' or a 'game of two halves' in another language that you know? Let us know by dropping us a line at admin@languagecaster.com. Stinger: You are listening to Languagecaster (in Spanish) Yes, that message was in Spanish.

    3 min

  8. 25 FEB

    Football Phrase of the Week: To close in on the title

    Football Phrase of the Week: To close in on the title In this football phrase of the week we explain the expression, 'to close in on the title' after Liverpool's win at Manchester City at the weekend. You can read the transcript for this post below, while you can also check out our glossary of footballing phrases here and visit our site to access all our previous posts and podcasts. If you have any suggestions or questions then you can contact us at admin@languagecaster.com. https://media.blubrry.com/footballlanguage/content.blubrry.com/footballlanguage/FootballPhraseoftheWeek_Tocloseinonthetitle.mp3 To close in on the title http://gty.im/2201508787 DF: Hello everyone. This is Damian from the Languagecaster team and I hope you are all doing well. Welcome to this week's football phrase which of course is when we look back at some of the language from the weekend's football. And today, much to Damons delight, we are going to take a look at the phrase, 'to close in on the title' after Liverpool won away at the Premier League holders Manchester City on Sunday. It is still only February and there are 11 games left for teams to play until the end of the season but it looks like the Premier League title race is over. Arsenal are currently in second position but after a shock home defeat to West Ham on Saturday (0-1) this was then followed by league leaders Liverpool's 2-0 away win at Manchester City. And this means there is now a gap of 11 points between the top two sides. Arsenal do have a game in hand which of course means that they have played one match fewer and they still have to play Liverpool. But even if they win these two games they will still be six points behind the leaders. Added to this, is the fact that Liverpool have only lost one league game all season and do not look as if they will slip up, while Arsenal have lost three times and have not played as well as last season; they are not chasing Liverpool down. In fact, the leaders have now extended their lead at the top and they really don't look like throwing away their lead. Of course, Liverpool have not been crowned champions just yet but the feeling here in the UK among fans and pundits is that the title race is over and Liverpool are getting closer to winning the Premier League. And this is where we can use today's football expression: to close in on the title. To close in on something means to get nearer to something and in this case Liverpool are getting nearer (and nearer) to the league title. If we use this expression there is a sense of inevitability about what is going to happen; so Liverpool are almost certainly going to win the league this year. It would be a huge shock if the Reds were to lose the title in the position they now find themselves in. So, in our example today we are talking about the title - to close in on the title - but we can also use this verb phrasewith other things in football that are about to happen. For example, Tottenham are closing in on signing a new striker - and this...

    5 min
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Welcome to the Learn English Through Football Podcast for all learners of English who love the beautiful game of football.

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