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This short football language podcast looks back at an interview we did with a Manchester City fan from our second ever podcast from November 2007! There is a worksheet to go with this listening practice and you can read the transcript for this podcast 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.
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DF: Hello everyone and welcome to Languagecaster.com – the football-language podcast for learners and teachers of English. I’m Damian and I’m here in London a couple of days after Manchester City’s win in the 2023 Champions League final. And so we thought it might be a nice idea to go back into our archives and re-live an interview we did with a Manchester City fan (and friend of the podcast, Dave) from our second ever podcast in November 2007. We asked Dave to tell the listeners about his favourite side and why he ended up supporting them. Now, there is a transcript with this listening practice and there is also a worksheet which is great for checking vocabulary.
Now, back then City finished in 8th place in the Premier League but they had been playing in the third tier of English football only eight years previously. They were still the second-best team in Manchester and had not won the domestic league since 1968, nevermind a treble!
So, in this short listening report we listen to Manchester City fan Dave explain why he supports the Blues and not the Reds from his hometown of Manchester. Vocabulary in bold is explained at the end of the post.
- Download the worksheet here
- Listen to the interview here
DB: Hello. Why Manchester City? Thata€™s a very good question. I know that in Japan and in many other countries most people know or have heard about Manchester United of course a€“ a very famous team. However, you may be interested to know that there is another team in Manchester and the team is called Manchester City.
The main difference between United and City – apart from the fact that United are far more famous and successful – is that City wear sky blue, sky blue shirts and white shorts. I mention that because when I was a kid, when I was about maybe 10 or 11 years old, thata€™s the main reason why I chose to support Man City, as opposed to Man Utd. Or at least one of them. And the other main reason was not so much the team but the supporters of the club. For a lot of football fans in England ita€™s not only the actual team and the players who are on the pitch that you support but you also become involved in the atmosphere of a club and it used to be when the…the stands were all-standing – that means no sitting, you could go there and have a really, really good time, not so much watching the game but having a laugh, listening to some of the other fans and the comments that they made.
The main difference between United and City was that at United all the fans just completely adored the team at the time, which as I remember was Bobby Charlton, George Best, Denis Law. On the other hand, City, which had a very good team at that time, whenever they lost the crowd used to really criticise them and attack them and so on. And for me as a young boy of 10 or 11, I just found that rather more interesting to be critical of the team rather than just showing adulation all the time.
And I think even now there is … that is a big difference maybe between the fans of City and United and thata€™s why that ita€™s very difficult for a City fan to switch over to supporting United. That may be similar in … with other cities which have two teams, like Liverpool and Everton maybe, or even in … with the London teams, Arsenal a€“ Spurs, Chelsea a€“ Fulham, and so on. But really that is the main reason why, even though I do agree that United have a great team at the moment and play great football, I still hate them. Ita€™s mostly because of the fans.
DF: Fantastic stuff! It’s really good to hear Dave there. And as I said, it’s from 2007
Vocabulary
A Here are explanations of some of the words and phrases from the listening. Download the worksheet here
- atmosphere: The feeling surrounding the club
- the stands: Where fans go to sit or stand and watch the game
- adulation: Strong positive feelings for someone (or a team)
- having a laugh: To have some fun, to be relaxed
- adored: To really love someone or something
- to switch over to: To change the team you support
Glossary
A-BC-DE-FG-HI-K L-NO-QR-ST-VW-Z0-9Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Japanese).
Contact
OK, if you have any questions or comments then drop us an email at admin@languagecaster.com and you can also look out for us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We also have a new-look football-language forum where you can ask and answer any questions you have on the language of football. We’ve had lots of questions and comments recently including the phrases, ‘a crisp shot‘ and ‘having a nightmare‘. So, go along and join in the conversation on our forum.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Italian).
Goodbye
Yes, you are listening to languagecaster and that message was in Italian. 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 and of course don’t forget there’s a worksheet too. OK, that’s it for this short listening practice in which we looked back at an interview with a Manchester City fan from 2007 – I know that Dave is very happy with how his team are doing now and I’m sure he enjoyed the Champions League win over the weekend! Everyone else enjoy all the football and we’ll see you again soon. Bye bye!
