Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:32 — 19.3MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Blubrry | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | Youtube Music | RSS | More
In this football language post for learners of English we look at the football expression ‘fightback‘ which is used when a team comes back to draw or win after being behind in the game. You can also 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.
Hello
DF: Hello again everyone and welcome to Languagecaster.com – the football-language podcast for learners and teachers of English. I’m Damian and I’m here in a sunny London at the start of 2023 – Happy New Year to all our listeners around the world. And I’m one half of the Languagecaster team with, of course, the other member Damon based in Japan. Now, did you get a chance to listen to Damon’s podcast on the phrase ‘tidy player‘? It was a really interesting show in which Damon explained what a tidy player means, as well as the phrase ‘industrious‘; an ‘industrious player‘. Great stuff. Remember that you can access all of our football-language podcasts by coming along to our site at Languagecaster.com.
Now, on today’s short podcast I will be looking at the term ‘fightback‘ and how it is used in football. Before we start, I am going to introduce you to some other language that you will hear in the show – many of these phrases are used when describing the situation when a team is losing a game but then either wins or draws the game – they make a comeback.
-
- To recover: The noun form of this verb is ‘recovery‘ and sometimes we hear the phrase ‘the team’s recovery‘ or ‘the team recovered after a poor start’. This suggests that the team played better after a poor or bad start.
- To go behind/To fall behind: This phrase is used to describe a team that is losing the game – the team fell behind to an early goal. We can also sometimes hear that a team is behind – they are losing.
- One down: This means that a team is losing by one goal – of course we can also say two-down or three down and so on.
- Comeback: A comeback is when a team recovers from being behind – they were losing but now are winning or drawing.
- To hold on (to a lead): This describes a team working really hard to protect their lead – the team held on for three points, for example.
- To spark: now, this has many meanings but for today’s phrase it means to start something.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (Besiktas fan)
Football Language: Fightback
When we talk about fightbacks in football it usually refers to a type of recovery in a match so it describes when a team is losing a game (or a tie) but goes on to win or draw; the team recovers from being behind to win or to draw the game. The idea of a ‘fightback‘ suggests that a lot of spirit is involved from the losing side as they try to battle back; they try to change the losing position into a winning one. Sometimes the phrase ‘fightback‘ describes how a team tried hard to come back after losing but does not quite manage to do so: ‘a brave fightback‘ would suggest that they tried but did not quite manage it.
So, for example, in the recent Premier League match against Brentford, Tottenham were losing 0-2 – they were two-nil down – but they scored two second-half goals to draw the match and this is known as a comeback or a fightback. We can sometimes see and hear the phrase ‘comeback win‘ to describe when a team recovers and manages to win the game after being losing. But I am not so sure that we would hear this with fightback – I don’t think we would say a ‘fighback win’. We would, however, see the phrases ‘late comeback‘ or ‘late fightback‘ to describe when a team comes back towards the end of the game. Other verbs to appear with fightback include ‘spark a comeback‘ which means to start the comeback and a similar phrase would be ‘to launch a fightback‘; and also ‘mount a fightback‘ and ‘stage a fightback‘. All of these phrases describe a team trying to get back into the game after being in a losing position. But we can also sometimes hear the phrase ‘survived a late fightback‘ which woud mean that the winning team held on to win despite their opponents trying really hard to come back. To hold on suggests that the team had to work really hard to defend their lead – they were holding on to their lead.
Fightback can be used as a noun or as a verb. When we use the word ‘fightback’ as a noun it is one word, while as a verb it would be in two parts: to fight back; the team fought back over the weekend to win the game. As an example, let’s take a look at how Skysports.com reported on Tottenham’s fightback against Brentford.
- Example: In 2016/17, Barcelona became the first team to fight back from four goals down to win a Champions League tie (UEFA.com)
- Example: The home fans began to show their frustration … before Balbuena and Snodgrass sparked a fightback which had looked unlikely over the previous 70 minutes. (BBC.co.uk November 2 2019)
- Example: …they overcame David Luiz’s red card to twice fight back and share the spoils in an eventful London derby. (BBC.co.uk January 21 2020). And this one explains that Arsenal were losing 1-0, came back to 1-1, were losing 2-1 but then fought back to draw 2-2. So, to share the spoils means that both teams had one point each.
More Examples
- Example: Spurs fight back from two goals behind to salvage point on Premier League return (Eurosport.com December 26 2022)
- Example: And with 14 minutes left the fightback was complete when Jimenez stroked in after more good work from Traore. (Guardian.co.uk 18 January 2020)
Related Vocabulary/Glossary
Now, on our site here at Languagecaster, we have a huge football-language glossary and so here are a couple of phrases linked to the idea of ‘fightback’ that you can find in this glossary.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Catalan)
Contact
I know that Damon, the other Languagecaster member, often talks about the great fightback his favourite side Liverpool produced in the 2005 Champions League final when Liverpool were losing 0-3 but fought back to win the trophy. Can you think of any other great fightbacks in football? Let us know by adding a comment on our site here or by using our forum – we have a quiz question about today’s word ‘fightback’ there. You can also send us an email at admin@languagecaster.com and you can also look out for us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (Irish fan).
Goodbye
DB: Yes, you are listening to Languagecaster and that message was from an Irish fan. Don’t forget there’s a transcript for this short podcast and there’s lots of vocabulary support – we explain lots of the meanings of these words in the transcript, which you can access by coming along to our site.
OK, that’s it for this short explanation of how the word ‘fightback‘ or ‘to fight back‘ is used in football. Remember, that it describes a team recovering from losing the game to then winning or drawing the match. Enjoy all the football this week – look out for any fightbacks during the week! And we’ll see you again soon. Bye bye!