In this post on the language of football, we explain the meaning of the phrase ‘to secure a point’, which is often used to describe when a team comes back to gain or earn a draw. If you have questions or comments about this or any other phrase then email us at: admin@languagecaster.com.Football Language: Secure a point
When two teams draw a league match or a group game they share the points – they earn one point each. This phrase ‘earn a point’ suggests that the team had to work hard to get that point, while another phrase that sometimes describes a draw is ‘to drop points‘ which may suggest that a team should have won but only managed to draw – they dropped two points. Of course, this phrase may mean that the team had lost which means they dropped three points! Another phrase used to describe a team drawing in a game is ‘secure a point‘ which suggests that the team just about got the draw – they may not have deserved the point or maybe the equaliser came late on in the match.It may even suggest the idea that the team probably did not expect anything more than a point – the team secured a draw.
This phrase a€˜to secure a pointa€™ was used to describe the Republic of Irelanda€™s late equaliser against Switzerland in their recent European Championship qualifier in Dublin. The verb a€˜to secure‘ has different meanings such as ‘to fix’ or ‘to attach’ something in such a way that the object will not fall, while another meaning is to protect against something but in football the meaning is connected to the idea of winning, getting or gaining something such as a point, a win, three points or even promotion or qualification. So, a team can secure a point, like the Irish team did, with a late equaliser or a side can secure all three points in hard-fought game (they won in a difficult match) and we can also use this verb with the noun ‘berth’ to mean qualify for a competition – I hope the Irish side can secure a berth in the 2020 European championships next summer.
- Example: ‘Republic of Ireland 1-1 Switzerland: McGoldrick scores late to secure draw in Dublin’ Sports Star The Hindu (September 2019)
- Example: The team secured promotion to the top flight with a win away at their closest rivals.
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