In this football language post we explain a newspaper headline from the Daily Mirror which is about UEFA’s decision to ban Manchester City from the Champions League over the next two seasons. This decision was made public on 14th February which is of course Valentines Day! Don’t forget we have hundreds more explanations of football language in our football glossary. If you have questions or comments about this or any other phrase then email us at:admin@languagecaster.com.Newspaper Headline: Valentine’s Day Massacre
The big news in European football is the ban that UEFA have handed Manchester City due to the Premier League club breaking financial fair play rules. The club have been banned from the Champions League for the next two seasons and will have to pay a fine of €30million after the European football organisers, UEFA, announced the punishment on February 14th – Valentine’s Day.
The headline uses the word ‘massacre’ which describes a situation when people are killed – this word can be used as both a noun and a verb. The St Valentine’s Day Massacre refers to a story from Chicago in the USA from 1929 when seven members of a gang were murdered – massacred – by another gang on the 14th February and this phrase ‘St Valentine’s Day Massacre’ can sometimes be used to describe anything really bad or overly dramatic that happens on this date. Here the headline suggests that this decision against Manchester City will have huge negative effects on the club with this headline highlighting how dramatic the story is.
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