Football Glossary

A-B | C-D | E-F | G-H | I-K | L-N | O-Q | R-S | T-V | W-Z

L

La Liga

La Liga: The Spanish top division

Example: Real Madrid are the current champions of La Liga.

(to) Land: To sign a player, to make a transfer

Example: Tottenham landed Croatian star Luka Modric for 16 million pounds.

Last-gasp: If something happens in the last minutes or seconds of a game it is known as last-gasp (e.g. last-gasp equaliser, last-gasp goal)

Example: Steven Gerrard scored a dramatic last-gasp equaliser against West Ham in the 120th minute of the 2007 FA Cup final (EFF: podcast 9).

Leg: tie, match

Example: In the Champions League knock out stage games are decided over two legs.

Ligament: body tissue connecting muscles and bones (especially, knee and ankle)

Example: Having missed the whole of last season after tearing knee ligaments on the opening day, Manchester City and Bulgarian striker Valerie Bojinov is out again.

Line-up: This expression is used to describe a team’s starting members and their position (to line up)

Example: There is speculation that Felipe Scolari will change Chelsea’s line-up this season.

Loan: This is when one club lends a player to another club for no money (loan signing / be on loan)

Example: New Premier League side Hull City have made 4 loan signings since being promoted.

(to) Lose: To not win a game

Example: Derby County lost more games than any other club in the history of the Premier League.

(to) Lose faith in: To no longer trust or believe in someone

Example: The Newcastle fans lost faith in manager Sam Allardyce (EFF: podcast 17).

Loss: A defeat, opposite of a victory

Example: It will be interesting to see how Chelsea react to the Champions league loss to Manchester United.

M

Managers

Manager: The person in charge of the team, the one who picks the players

Example: Sir Alex Ferguson has been manager of Manchester united for more than 20 years – longer than any other Premier League manager.

Merry-go-round: When managers lose their jobs or resign and move to other clubs. This can start a process where one manager takes the place of another manager who then moves on to another club

Example: Grant was sacked from Chelsea and the managerial merry-go-round started as Scolari moved to Chelsea, Mourinho to Inter and Grant to Turkey (EFF: podcast 29 – 2006-7.)

Midfielder: Someone that plays in the middle section of the field; usually an all-round player

Example: Liam Brady was the greatest ever Irish midfielder; he could pass, shoot, tackle and was tactically astute.

(the) Miracle of Istanbul: the final of the Champions League in 2005, held in Istanbul. Liverpool played AC Milan and came from 3-0 behind to win on penalties. Widely regarded as one of the most exciting games ever (though this is disputed!)

(to) Move to: When a player changes from club to another club, transfer

Example: Many Tottenham fans were upset when the club captain Robbie Keane moved to Liverpool.

N

Nil-Nil

Never say die: To not admit defeat, to have a great fighting spirit

Example: Turkey showed a never say die attitude when coming from behind to beat Croatia and the Cezch Republic to win during Euro 2008 (EFF: summer podcast 5)

Nil: No score: when a team does not score a goal we use the word nil to describe their score

Example: The World Cup final of 1994 between Brazil and Italy finished nil-nil (0-0).

(a/to) Nutmeg: When a player puts the ball through an opponent’s legs and continues on with the ball.

Example: Cristiano Ronaldo nutmegged the defender and scored with a left-footed strike.