Football Expression: Preseason
This is the period or time before the season starts (pre- is a prefix that means before something). Teams need to prepare before the season starts so they use pre-season to help their players recover, get fit and work on new tactics and ideas for the new season. They also play friendly games (sometimes known as warm-up games) and these are termed pre-season games which are sometimes played in pre-season tournaments. Before a season starts many pundits and fans like to predict which teams will win the league or be relegated and so we can often hear the phrase ‘pre-season favourites’ to win the title or pre-season favourites to go down which means that even before the league has kicked off many people think this team will be relegated to a lower division.
- Example: Tottenham have smashed their transfer record to sign French midfielder Tanguy Ndombele who, going on his pre-season cameos, looks like a strong addition (Sporting Life, August 9 2019).
- Royle’s reign ends after Ipswich’s failure to justify pre-season hype (Guardian, May 12, 2006)
Related Phrases
Learn English Through Football Podcast: A show for football fans to improve their English language skills
