Football Language: (to) Put on a Plate

In this post, we explain the football phrase ‘to put on a plate’.put on a plate

  • Find out more about this phrase by reading the transcript below.
  • You can also find many more examples of soccer vocabulary by going to our football cliches page here and our huge football glossary here.

Football Language: Put on a plate

The phrase ‘to put on a plate‘ means to serve something for somebody, to give them something. It combines both the meaning do a service for someone and to give someone something. In football, if you put it (the ball) on a plate, you present a player with a good scoring chance. The pass is so good that it creates a good opportunity. You mostly hear this phrase describing a cross from the flanks, the wings, into the centre of the box. The verb hand is sometimes used – to hand someone something on a plate – which has a slightly wider meaning, as it could refer to allowing a team the chance to win a match as well as the meaning to score a goal.

Example: “The Brazilian (Neymar) drilled a cross into the penalty area with the outside of his right foot, putting it on a plate for Kurzawa to acrobatically score.” (Joe.com August 2017)

Example: “He puts the ball on a plate for Foden, whipping it perfectly across the face of the goal where the Man City midfielder cannot miss at the far post.” (Telegraph minute-by-minute October 2017)

Example: “The trouble with Tottenham on this occasion was that they handed the points to Chelsea on a plate and Chelsea’s men took them.” (The Mirror, August 2017)

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I was born and brought up near Chester in the north west of England. I have always loved playing and talking about sport, especially football!
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Football GlossaryEpisode 777