For those unfamiliar with the game.

>1) 12th man – This expression has two different definitions. It usually refers to fans who are present at a football match, especially when they make such noise as to provide increased motivation for the team. The metaphor is based on the fact that a team numbers 11 active players at the start of a game.

The term can also be used where a referee is perceived to be biased in favour of one team. "They had a 12th man on the pitch", is a complaint made by fans. It also may refer to a player that's not usually part of the starting eleven, but comes off the bench most of the match.

>2) 4–4–2 – common modern formation used with four defenders, four midfielders, and two attacking players.

There are many variants of this formation, such as the 4–4–2 diamond, where the four midfielders are assembled in a diamond shape without wide midfielders, and the 4–1–3–2, where one midfielder is expected to adopt a defensive position, allowing the other three to concentrate on attacking.

>3) 4–5–1 – common modern formation used with four defenders, five midfielders and one striker.

By pushing the wingers forward, this formation can be adapted into a 4–3–3; teams frequently play 4–3–3 when they have the ball, and revert to 4–5–1 when they lose possession.

Variants include the 4–4–1–1, where a striker drops deep or an attacking midfielder pushes forward to

play in a supporting role to the main striker, the 4–2–3–1, where two holding midfielders are used, the 4–3–2–1 (or Christmas Tree), which uses three central midfielders behind two attacking midfielders and 4-6-0 which utilizes four defenders and six midfielders deployed as one holding player, two wing-backs and three who rotate between attack and defence positions.

>4) Academy – model used by some professional clubs for youth development. Young players are contracted to the club and trained to a high standard, with the hope that some will develop into professional footballers.

>5) Added time – Stoppage time.

>6) Advantage – decision made by the referee during a game, where a player is fouled, but play is allowed to continue because the team that suffered the foul is in a better position than they would have been had the referee stopped the game.

>7) Against the run of play – a goal scored, or a win or draw achieved, by a side that was being clearly outplayed.

>8) Aggregate or aggregate score – combined score of matches between two teams in a two-legged match.

>9) All competitions or all comps – used to describe a team's or player's statistical progress in various league, domestic, and international matches across a season, career, or other set time period; used particularly when such competitions run concurrent with each other on the calendar.

>10) Armband – worn by a team's captain, to signify that role. Black armbands are occasionally worn by an entire team in commemoration of a death or tragic event.

>11) Assist – pass that leads to a goal being scored.

>12) Assistant referee – one of a number of officials who assist the referee in controlling a match.

>13) Attacker – usually refers to a striker, or any player close to the opposing team's goal line.

>14) Away goals rule – tie-break applied in some competitions with two-legged matches. In cases where the scores finish level on aggregate, the team that has scored more goals away from home is deemed the winner.

>15) Back of the net – goal in which the ball is usually trapped at the back of the net until it is picked back up.

>16) Back-pass rule – rule introduced into the Laws of the Game in 1992 to help speed up play, specifying that goalkeepers are not allowed to pick up the ball if it was intentionally kicked back to them by a teammate.

>17) Backheel – type of pass or shot in which a player uses their heel to propel the ball backwards to another player or to the goal.

>18) Ball boy or ball girl – one of several children stationed around the edge of the pitch, whose role is to help retrieve balls that go out of play.

>19) Ball recovery – the successful attempt by a team to regain possession of the ball.

>20) Ballon d'Or – is an annual football award presented by French news magazine France Football since 1956 to honour the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous season.

>21) Behind closed doors – matches in which spectators are not present. Was the norm during large

parts of the COVID-19 pandemic. May be imposed as a form of sanction for clubs whose supporters have behaved inappropriately.

Such matches are sometimes arranged between clubs, to help hasten a player's return to fitness.

>22) Bench – area on the edge of the pitch where a team's substitutes and coaches sit, usually consisting an actual covered bench or a row of seats. More formally known as the substitutes' bench. Also sometimes called a dugout.

>23) Bend – skill attribute in which players strike the ball in a manner that applies spin, resulting in the flight of the ball curving, or bending, in mid-air.

>24) Bicycle kick – move made by a player with their back to the goal. The player throws their body into the air, makes a shearing movement with the legs to get one leg in front of the other, and attempts to play the ball backwards over their own head, all before returning to the ground. Also known as an overhead kick.

>25) Big game player – a term that describes a player that often goes under the radar in normal matches but turns up for the occasion in important matches, and somewhat exceeds expectations in "big games".

>26) Booking – act of noting the offender in a cautionable offence, which results in a yellow card.

>27) Bosman ruling – ruling by the European Court of Justice related to player transfers that allows

professional football players in the European Union to move freely to another club at the end of their term of contract with their present team.

>28) Bottler – refers to a player or a team that initially plays in a reasonably well level, but, due to mistakes, end up in a poor form at the end of the season.

>29) Box – Penalty area.

>30) Boxing Day – day after Christmas. Usually a day when many matches are played in England as part of a festive period schedule.

>31) Box-to-box – players with the ability to influence the game both defensively and offensively or, more generally, at both ends of the pitch.

>32) Brace – when a player scores two goals in a single match.

>33) Break – attacking manoeuvre in which several members of a defending team gain possession of the ball and suddenly counter-attack into their opponent's half of the pitch, overwhelming their opponents' defence in greater numbers, usually as a result of the opposing defenders' being out of position after having supported their attackers.

>34) Build-up – The phase of play when a team has possession of the ball and tries to score while the

opponent is in an organized defence.

>35) CAF – initialism for the Confederation of African Football, the governing body of the sport in Africa.

>36) Cap – appearance of a player for a national team. Originates from the traditional presentation of a cap to British players who made international appearances.

>37) Cap-tied – a term used when a player has represented a national team and as a consequence is

ineligible to play for another. A play on the older term Cup-tied.

>38) Captain – player chosen to lead a team, and in a match to participate in the coin toss before the start of play. Also known as a skipper.

>39) Catenaccio – tactical system that puts an emphasis on defence. In Italian, catenaccio means

"door-bolt", implying a highly organised and effective backline defence to prevent goals.

>40) Caution – yellow card.

>41) Centre circle – 10-yard radius circle around the centre spot.

>42) Centre spot – mark in the centre of the pitch from which play is started at the beginning of each half, and restarted following the scoring of a goal.

>43) Challenge – tackle.

>44) Channel – empty space between the fullback and the central defender when a defence is playing with a back four. Wide-playing strikers are said to operate "in the channels".

>45) Champions League – annual confederation-wide tournament involving the champions and other

successful teams from that confederation's domestic leagues.

The term can refer to the tournaments held in the AFC, CAF, CONCACAF or OFC, but is most commonly used in reference to the competition held by UEFA.

The CONMEBOL equivalent is the Copa Libertadores.

>46) Chance – situation where an attacking player can shoot at goal, with a realistic prospect of scoring. Also known as an opportunity.

>47) Chip – high trajectory shot or cross, executed by wedging the foot underneath the ball.

>48) Clean sheet – when a goalkeeper or team does not concede a single goal during a match.

>49) Clearance – when a player kicks the ball away from the goal they are defending.

>50) Club – collective name for a football team, and the organisation that runs it.

>51) Consolation goal – when a losing team scores a goal which has no impact on the final result.

>52) Compact defending – a defensive tactic related to compactness.

>53) Co-ownership – system whereby two football clubs own the contract of a player jointly, although the player is only registered to play for one club.

>54) CONCACAF – acronym for the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football, the governing body of the sport in North and Central America and the Caribbean; pronounced "kon-ka-kaff".

>55) CONMEBOL – acronym for the South American Football Association, the governing body of the sport in South America; pronounced "kon-me-bol".

>56) Corner flag – flags are placed in each of the four corners of the pitch to help mark the boundaries of the playing area.

>57) Corner kick – kick taken from within a one-yard radius of the corner flag; a method of restarting play when a player puts the ball behind their own goal line without a goal being scored.

>58) Corridor of uncertainty – a cross or pass which is delivered into the area in front of the goalkeeper and behind the last line of defence.

>59) Counter-attack or counterattack – see break.

>60) Counter-pressing or counterpressing – While pressing is a tactic applied by a team in its defensive shape, counter-pressing is applied immediately after losing the ball in order to quickly regain possession.

>61) Cross – delivery of the ball into the penalty area by the attacking team, usually from the area

between the penalty box and the touchline.

>62) Crossbar – horizontal bar across the top of the goal.

>63) Cruyff turn – type of turn named after Dutchman Johan Cruyff; designed to lose an opponent.

Specifically, the ball is gently kicked sideways by one foot, but behind the player's own standing leg.

>64) Cuauhtemiña – skill move attributed to Mexican player Cuauhtémoc Blanco, which he performed notably at the 1998 World Cup.

When multiple players attempted to tackle him, he

trapped the ball between his feet and jumped over them, releasing the ball in the air and landing with it under control.

>65) Cup (~ competition, ~ format, ~ tie): a single-elimination tournament, as opposed to a league

(round-robin tournament); respectively called after England's FA Cup and Football League.

Depending on the competition, cup ties may be a single match or a two-legged tie; often the "cup final" is a single match at a predetermined venue.

>66) Cup run – a series of wins in a cup competition, usually applied to teams from lower division.

>67) Cup-tied – where a player is ineligible to play in a cup competition because they have played for a different team earlier in the same competition.

>68) Cupset – A modern portmanteau of cup and upset, often used in sports journalism to refer to win for an underdog in a knockout competition.

>69) Curl – see bend.

>70) D – semi-circular arc at the edge of the penalty area, used to indicate the portion of the 10-yard distance around the penalty spot that lies outside the penalty area. Referred to in the Laws of the Game as "the penalty arc".

>71) Dead ball – situation when the game is restarted with the ball stationary, such as a free kick.

>72) Deep – describes the positioning of a player (or a line of players, such as the defence or midfield) who is playing closer to their own goal than they traditionally would.

A defence may drop deep against a team with fast attacking players, to reduce the amount of space behind the defence for fast-paced players to break into.

Attacking players or midfielders who traditionally play deep may be described as being a deep-lying forward or a deep-lying playmaker.

>73) Defender – one of the four main positions in football. Defenders are positioned in front of the

goalkeeper and have the principal role of keeping the opposition away from their goal.

>74) Defensive wall – see Wall.

>75) Derby – match between two, usually local, rivals.

>76) Direct free kick – awarded to fouled team following certain listed "penal" fouls. A goal may be scored directly from a direct free kick.

>77) Dirty work – the type of play undertaken by a defensive midfielder – such as making tackles in

midfield, playing short passes to the wing, and breaking up opponents' attacking moves – which is necessary for a team to be successful, but rarely receives recognition or acclaim, and is not considered "glamorous".

>78) Dissent – breach of the Laws of the Game, whereby a player uses offensive language or gestures

towards official(s). In extreme cases it can result in yellow or red cards being issued.

> 79) Diving – form of cheating, sometimes employed by an attacking player to win a free kick or

penalty.

When being challenged for the ball by an opponent, the player will throw themselves to the ground as though they had been fouled, in an attempt to deceive the referee into thinking a foul has been committed. Also known as a flop.

>80) Double – most commonly used when a club wins both its domestic league and its country's major

cup competition in the same season.

Also refers to a pair of victories, home and away, by one

club over another in the same league season.

>81) Dr. Griffin – a pass 'to Dr. Griffin' designates a pass into an empty space, received by no other teammate (alluding to Griffin (The Invisible Man))

>82) Dribbling – when a player runs with the ball at their feet under close control. Dribbling on a winding course past several opponents in close proximity without losing possession is sometimes described as making a mazy run or mazy dribble.

>83) Drop ball – method used to restart a game, sometimes when a player has been injured accidentally and the game is stopped while the ball is still in play.

>84) Drop points - when a team does not win all three standings points available to them in a league or

tournament game, either through a draw (in which they earn just one point) or a loss (zero points); also used to describe a team losing ground to other teams ahead of them in a league's standings.

>85) Dugout – see bench.

>86) Dummy – skill move performed by a player receiving a pass from a teammate; the player receiving the ball will angle their body in such a way that the opponent thinks they are going to play the ball.

The player will then intentionally allow the ball to run by them to a teammate close by without touching it, confusing the opponent as to which player has the ball.

>87) El Clásico – derby fixtures in Spanish-speaking countries such as Argentina and Mexico.

In Spain, and countries where Spanish is not a primary language, it is commonly understood as the name of the derby between Spanish clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona.

>88) End-to-end stuff – exciting, action-packed match. Usually involves suspense, as end-to-end indicates both teams are creating goal scoring opportunities on opposite sides of the field.

>89) Equaliser – goal that makes the score even.

>90) European night – night-time game in a UEFA club competition.

>91) Exhibition match – see Friendly.

>92) Extra time – additional period, normally two halves of 15 minutes, used to determine the winner in some tied cup matches.

>93) FA Cup – English knockout competition – the oldest cup tournament in the world.

>94) False nine – A centre forward who regularly drops back into midfield to disrupt opposition marking.

>95) Fan – follower of a football team or someone who simply enjoys watching the game. Also known as supporter.

>96) Fans' favourite – player that is extremely popular with fans of a club or nation.

>97) Farmers league – a derogatory term referring to football leagues perceived not to be as competitive as others. The literal definition of farmers league is a league that involves players who have day-time jobs farming and play football in the evenings.

>98) Favourite – team that is expected to win a particular match or tournament. Opposite of underdog.

>99) FC – initialism for football club, used by teams such as Watford FC.

>100) Feign injury – see play-acting

>102) FIFA – acronym for Fédération Internationale de Football Association (International Federation of

Association Football), the world governing body of the sport; pronounced "fee-fa".

>102) Fifty-fifty – a challenge in which two players have an equal chance of winning control of a loose ball.

>103) Final whistle – see full-time.

>104).First eleven – the eleven players who, when available, would be the ones usually chosen by the team's manager to start a game.

>105) First team – the most senior team fielded by a club.

>106) First touch – skill attribute for a player which signifies their ability to bring the ball completely under control immediately upon receiving it.

>107) Fixture congestion – situation where a team is required to play many matches in a short period of time.

>108) Flag – small rectangular flag attached to a handle, used by an assistant referee to signal that they

have seen a foul or other infraction take place.

>109) Fixture – scheduled match which has yet to be played.

>110) Flat back four – defensive positioning system, in which the primary first position of each member of a four-man defence is in a straight line across the pitch; often used in conjunction with an offside trap.

>111) Flick-on – when a player receives a pass from a teammate and, instead of controlling it, touches the ball with their head or foot while it is moving past them, with the intent of helping the ball reach another teammate.

>112) Formation – how the players in a team are positioned on the pitch. The formation is often denoted numerically, with the numbers referring to the corresponding number of players in defensive, midfield and attacking positions.

>113) Fortress – home ground of a team boasting a strong home form.

>114) Forward – see Striker.

>115) Fourth official – additional assistant referee, who has various duties and can replace one of the other officials, in case of injury.

>116) Fox in the box – see Goal poacher.

>117) Foul – breach of the Laws of the Game by a player, punishable by a free kick or penalty. Such acts

can lead to yellow or red cards depending on their severity.

>118) Free kick – the result of a foul outside the penalty area, given against the offending team. Free kicks can be either direct (shot straight towards the goal) or indirect (the ball must touch another player before a goal can be scored).

>119) Friendly – match arranged by two teams with no competitive value, such as a player's testimonial or a warm-up match before a season begins.

>120) Fullback – position on either side of the defence, whose job is to try to prevent the opposing team

attacking down the wing.

>121) Full-time – either (1) the end of the game, signalled by the referee's whistle (also known as the

final whistle), or (2) a footballer or coach whose only profession is football, and by extension a club employing such players and coaches.

>122) Game of two halves – a close match where one team dominates each half.

>123) Ghost goal – situations where a ball fairly crossed the goal line but did not result in a goal, or a goal was awarded despite the ball not crossing the line.

>124) Giant-killing – a lower division team defeating another team from a much higher division in that

country's league.

>125) Give-and-go – see One-two.

>126) Goal – the only method of scoring in football; for a goal to be awarded the ball must pass completely over the goal line in the area between the posts and beneath the crossbar.

>127) Goal average – number of goals scored divided by number of goals conceded. Used as a tiebreaking method before the introduction of goal difference.

>128) Goal difference – net difference between goals scored and goals conceded.

>129) Goal from open play – any goal that is not scored from a dead ball situation.

>130) Goalkeeper – a specialist playing position with the job of defending a team's goal and preventing

the opposition from scoring.

They are the only player on the pitch that can handle the ball in open play, although they can only do so in their penalty area.

>131) Goal kick – method of restarting play when the ball is played over the goal line by a player of the

attacking team without a goal being scored.

>132) Goal line – line at one of the shorter ends of the pitch, spanning from one corner flag to another, with the goalposts situated at the halfway point; sometimes used to refer to the particular section of the goal line between the two goalposts.

>133) Goal-line clearance – when a player performs a clearance of the ball right off or near the goal line.

>134).Goal-line technology – a system to determine whether the ball has crossed the line for a goal or not.

>135) Goal poacher – type of striker, primarily known for excellent scoring ability and movement inside the penalty area.

>136) Goalmouth – the section of the pitch immediately in front of the goal.

>137) Goalpost – vertical bars at either side of the goal.

>138) Golazo - a spectacular or impressive goal.

>139) Group of death – group in a cup competition which is unusually competitive, because the number

of strong teams in the group is greater than the number of qualifying places available for the next phase of the tournament.

>140) Hairdryer treatment – manager yelling at players without mercy in the dressing room, intended to motivate them. In this scenario, the manager acts as the hairdryer.

>141) Half-time – break between the two halves of a match, usually lasts 15 minutes.

>142) Half-volley – pass or shot in which the ball is struck just as, or just after, it touches the ground.

>143) Hammer – to beat a team by a big margin.

>144) Handbags – colloquialism, especially in the United Kingdom, referring to an event where two or

more players from opposing teams square up to each other in a threatening manner, or push and jostle each other in an attempt to assert themselves, without any actual violent conduct taking place.

>145) Hand ball or handball – when a player (other than a goalkeeper inside their penalty area) deliberately touches the ball with their hand or arm (from the tips of the fingers to the top of the shoulder) in active play. A foul is given against the player if spotted.

>146) Hang up one's boots – to retire from football.

>147) Hat-trick – when a player scores three goals in a single match.

>148) Header – using the head as a means of playing or controlling the ball.

>149) High foot – A foul is awarded if the referee determines that a player's foot has moved into a dangerously high position while trying to play the ball, especially if the foot threatens or causes an injury to an opponent.

>150) Holding role or Holding midfielder – central midfielder whose primary role is to protect the defence.

>151) Hold up the ball – when a player, usually a forward, receives a long ball from a teammate, and

controls and shields it from the opposition, with the intent of slowing the play down to allow teammates to join the attack.

>152) Hole – space on a pitch between the midfield and forwards. In formations where attacking midfielders or deep-lying forwards are used, they are said to be "playing in the hole".

>153) Home and away – a team's own ground and their opponent's, respectively. The team playing at their own stadium is said to have "home advantage."

>154) Howler – glaring and possibly amusing error made by a player or referee during a match.

>155) Injury time – see stoppage time.

>156) Intercept – to prevent a pass from reaching its intended recipient.

>157) International break – period of time set aside by FIFA for scheduled international matches per their International Match Calendar.

>158) Journeyman – player who has represented many different clubs over their career. Opposite of one-club man.

>159) Keepie-uppie – the skill of juggling a football, keeping it off the ground using the feet, the knees, the chest, the shoulders or the head.

>160) Kick-off – method of starting a match; the ball is played from the centre spot with all members of the opposing team at least 10 yards from the ball. Also used to restart the match when a goal has been scored.

>161) Kill the game – goal that increases the advantage for one team and defines the outcome of the match, reducing the chance of an equalizer. A goal that kills the game is usually scored in the final moments of a match.

>162) Knock – small injury.

>163) Knuckleball – a method of striking the ball so that it produces almost no spinning motion duringits flight. This type of shot is usually used for long range shots or during free-kicks, and makes it difficult for the goalkeeper to save.

>164) Last man – situation where an attacking player is in possession, with only one opposing defender

between the ball and the goal. If the defender commits a foul on the attacker, a red card is usually shown.

>165) Last-minute goal – a goal scored either in the final or penultimate minute of regulation time or extra time, or during stoppage time or injury time.

>166) Lay-off pass – short pass, usually lateral, played delicately into the space immediately in front of a teammate who is arriving at speed from behind the player making the pass; the player receiving the pass will then be able to take control of the ball without breaking stride, or (if they are close enough to the goal) attempt to score with a first-time shot.

>167) League – form of competition in which clubs are ranked by the number of points they accumulate over a series of matches. Often structured as round-robin tournaments.

>168) Linesman – see Assistant referee.

>169) Loan – when a player temporarily plays for a club other than the one they are currently contracted to. Such a loan may last from a few weeks to one or more seasons.

>170) Long ball – attempt to distribute the ball a long distance down the field via a cross, without the intention to pass it to the feet of the receiving player.

>171) Manager – the individual in charge of the day-to-day running of the team.

>172) Man of the match – award, often decided by pundits or sponsors, given to the best player in a game.

>173) Man-to-man marking – system of marking in which each player is responsible for an opposing player rather than an area of the pitch. Compare with zonal marking.

>174) Marking – Defensive strategy, aimed at preventing an attacker from receiving the ball from a

teammate.

>175) Medical – mandatory procedure undertaken by a player prior to signing for a new team which assesses the player's fitness and overall medical health.

>176)Midfielder – one of the four main positions in football. Midfielders are positioned between the defenders and strikers.

>177) Neutral ground or neutral venue – venue for a match that is the home stadium of neither team.

>178) Normal time – the first 90 minutes of a match.

>179) Nutmeg – when a player intentionally plays the ball between an opponent's legs, runs past the opponent, and collects their own pass.

>180) Offside - In its most basic form, a player is offside if they are in their opponent's half of the field, and are closer to the goal line than both the second-last defender and the ball at the moment the ball is played to them by a teammate.

>181) Offside trap – defensive tactical maneuver, in which each member of a team's defense will simultaneously step forward as the ball is played forward to an opponent, in an attempt to put that opponent in an offside position.

An unsuccessful performance of this maneuver results

in the opponent "beating the offside trap".

>182) Olympic goal – goal scored directly from a corner kick.

>183) One touch – style of play in which the ball is passed around quickly using just one touch.

>184) One-club man – player who spends their entire professional career at one club. Opposite of journeyman.

>185) One-on-one – situation where the only player between an attacking player and the goal is the

opponent's goalkeeper.

>186) One-two – skill move between teammates to move the ball past an opponent. Player One passes

the ball to Player Two and runs past the opponent, whereupon they immediately receive the ball back from Player Two, who has received, controlled, and passed the ball in one movement.

>187) Open goal – where no player is defending the goal.

>188) Overlap – move between teammates. An attacking player (who has the ball) is shadowed by a

single defender; the attacker's teammate runs past both players, forcing the defender to either continue to shadow the player on the ball, or attempt to prevent the teammate from receiving a pass. The first player can either pass the ball or keep possession, depending on which decision the defender make.

>189) Own goal – where a player scores a goal against their own team, usually as the result of an error.

>190) Panenka – skill move used when taking a penalty kick wherein the player taking the penalty delicately chips the ball over a diving goalkeeper, rather than striking the ball firmly, as is the norm.

Named after Antonín Panenka, who famously scored such a penalty for Czechoslovakia against West Germany in the final of the 1976 UEFA European Football Championship.

>191) Parking the bus – when all the players on a team play defensively, usually when the team is intending to draw the game or defending a narrow margin.

>192) Pass – when a player kicks the ball to one of their teammates.

>193) Penalty kick – kick taken 12 yards (11 metres) from goal, awarded when a team commits a foul inside its own penalty area, and the infringement would usually be punishable by a direct free kick.

>194) Penalty shootout – method of deciding a match in a knockout competition, which has ended in a draw after full-time and extra-time. Players from each side take it in turns to attempt to score a penalty against the opposition goalkeeper.

>195) Perfect hat-trick – when a player scores three goals in a single match, one with the left foot, one with the right foot and one with a header.

>196) Pitch invasion – when a crowd of people who are watching run onto the pitch to celebrate, protest about an incident or confront opposition fans.

>197) Play-acting – similar to diving, play-acting is deceiving the officials that a player is injured to try to gain an advantage or force the referee to punish the "aggressor". Also known as feigning injury or Diving.

>198) Players' tunnel – a passage through which football players walk to get to the pitch.

>199) Playmaker – attacking player whose job is to control the flow of their team's play.

>200) Playoff – series of matches towards the end of the season that determine clubs which are promoted and/or relegated, determine tied league positions or determine qualifiers for continental competitions.

>201) Pocket – when a player dominates their marked target for the majority of match, the marked player is said to have been pocketed. Usually applies to defenders dominating forwards.

>202) Pre-season – period leading up to the start of a league season. Clubs generally prepare for a new

season with intensive training, playing various friendlies, and sometimes by attempting to sign new players.

>203) Pressing – A tactic of defending players moving forward towards the ball, rather than remaining in position near their goal. They may pressure the player that has the ball or get close to other opponents in order to remove passing options.

>204) Professional foul – foul committed by a player who is aware that they are about to intentionally commit the foul, and who does so having calculated the risk, and determined that committing the foul and taking a yellow card or even a red card will be more beneficial to their team than if the player allowed their opponent to continue unimpeded.

>205) Project Mbappé – concept in which parents have the fantasy objective of turning their child into a star footballer via intense coaching at an early age. The term came about as a social media phenomenon, and traces its name to French player Kylian Mbappé.

>206) Promotion – when a club moves up to a higher division in the league hierarchy as a result of being one of the best teams in their division at the end of a season.

>207) Pub team / pub league – see Sunday league football.

>208) Pyramid – may refer to the 2–3–5 formation, or to a football pyramid, a hierarchical structure of leagues.

>209) Rabona – method of kicking the football whereby the kicking leg is wrapped around the back of the standing leg.

>210) Recovery – (in defense) the transition from defensive pressure to a defensive block. See also, Ball recovery and Injury recovery.

>211) Red card – awarded to a player for either a single serious cautionable offence or following two yellow cards.

The player receiving the red card is compelled to leave the game for the rest of its duration, and that player's team is not allowed to replace him with another player. A player receiving the red card is said to have been sent off or ejected.

>212) Referee – the official who presides over a match, with the help of assistant referees and the fourth official.

>213) Relegation – when a club moves down to a lower division in the league hierarchy as a result of gaining the fewest points in their division at the end of a season.

>214) Reserve team – team which is considered supplemental to a club's senior team. Matches between reserve teams often include a combination of first team players that have not featured in recent games, as well as academy and trial players.

>215) Retired number – squad number which is no longer used as a form of recognising an individual player's loyal service to the club. Sometimes a number is retired as a memorial after their

death.

>216) Rounding the 'keeper – attacking move in which a player attempts to dribble the ball around the goalkeeper, hoping to leave an open goal.

>217) Save – when a goalkeeper prevents the football from crossing the goal line between the goalposts.

>218) Scissor kick – see Bicycle kick.

>219) Scorpion kick – acrobatic kick of the type first notably performed as a save by René Higuita in 1995 while playing for Colombia at Wembley stadium against England.

>220) Screamer – a term used to describe a fiercely-hit shot on goal from long range.

>221) Seal dribble – type of dribble, in which a player flicks the ball up from the ground onto their head and then proceeds to run past opponents whilst bouncing the ball on top of their forehead, somewhat imitating a performing seal.

>222) Season – the time period during which primary competitions in a certain country are played. In most European countries the season starts around August or September and ends in May, with a winter break in December and January.

In other countries the season is played within a single calendar year. It is often customary to use the Super Cup to mark the beginning of a season while the Cup

final usually marks its end.

>223) Second season syndrome – phrase sometimes used by commentators in English football to refer to a downturn in fortunes for a football club two seasons after its promotion to the Premier League.

>224) Sending off – see red card.

>225) Separation – space that is found or created by an attacking player in the offensive run of play, either with or without possession of the ball.

>226) Set piece – dead ball routine that the attacking team has specifically practised, such as a free kick taken close to the D.

>227) Shielding – defensive technique, in which a defensive player positions their body between the ball

and an attacking opponent, in order to prevent that opponent from reaching the ball.

>228) Shin pads or Shin guards – mandatory piece of equipment, usually made of plastic or rubber, worn underneath the socks in order to protect the shins.

>229) Shoot – specialised kicking technique mainly used by forwards. The purpose of shooting is to get

the ball past the goal line (usually beating the goalkeeper in the process), though some shots may

be made in order to win corners or force the keeper to deflect the ball into the path of a teammate – this will only be the case if scoring directly from the shot seems unlikely.

>230) Side netting – outside of the net part of the goal, which stretches back from the goalpost to the stanchion.

>231) Silverware – a slang term for the trophies teams receive for winning competitions.

>232) Sitter – an instance when a player has a clear goal-scoring opportunity, but misses the shot. A sitter is often characterized by an open-goal miss.

>233) Slide tackle – type of tackle where the defending player slides along the ground to tackle their opponent.

>234) Soccer – alternative name for the sport of association football. Originating in Britain, and derived

from the "s-o-c" in "association", the word was commonly used in the UK until the 1970s.

Now, it is used most commonly in countries. where the term "football" is used to refer to a different code, for instance American football in the United States, and Australian rules football and rugby league in Australia, as well as in Ireland at such times when confusion with Gaelic football may occur.

>235) Squad numbers – numerical markings on players' shirts used to distinguish individual players in a

game of football.

>236) Square ball – when a ball is passed between teammates laterally, across the field of play.

>237) Step over or stepover – skill move performed by an attacking player in which the player with the ball will move their foot over the ball without making contact with it.

The intent of the move is to confuse a defender into thinking that the attacking player is moving with the ball in a certain direction; when the defender changes direction, the attacker will quickly change direction.

>238) Stoppage-time – an additional number of minutes at the end of each half, determined by the match officials, to compensate for time lost during the game. Informally known by various names, including injury time and added time.

>239) Straight red – a penalty given by the referee in punishment for a serious offence that is deemed to be worse than a booking and results in immediate sending off of a player.

>240) Striker – one of the four main positions in football. Strikers are the players closest to the opposition goal, with the principal role of scoring goals. Also known as forward or attacker.

>241) Studs – small points on the underneath of a player's boots to help prevent slipping. A tackle in which a player directs their studs towards an opponent is referred to as a studs-up challenge, and is a foul punishable by a red card.

>242) Stunner – see screamer.

>243) Substitute – a player who is brought on to the pitch during a match in exchange for an existing player.

>244) Subbed – A player who is withdrawn from the field of play and replaced by a substitute is said to have been subbed or subbed off.

>245) Sudden death – feature of penalty shootouts. If scores are level after each side has taken the standard five penalties, the teams continue to take one kick each until one scores and the other misses, at which point the shootout immediately ends.

>246) Super Hat-trick – when a player scores four goals in a single match.

>247) Survive – when a team at risk of relegation secures enough points to guarantee their position in

that league for the following season. Also known as securing safety.

>248) Suspension – a punishment under which players are not permitted to play in one or more of their team's games if they are sent off or reach a specified total number of bookings in previous games.

>249) Sweeper – defender whose role is to protect the space between the goalkeeper and the rest of the defence. Also referred to as libero.

>250) Tackle – method of a player winning the ball back from an opponent, achieved either by using a leg to wrest possession from the opponent, or making a slide tackle to knock the ball away.

>251) Technical area – area within which the manager must remain while coaching their team during a match, marked by white lines at the side of the pitch.

>252) Three points for a win – point system in which three points are awarded to the team winning a match, with no points to the losing team. If the game is drawn, each team receives one point.

>253) Through-ball – pass from the attacking team that goes straight through the opposition's defence to a teammate.

>254) Throw-in – method of restarting play. Involves a player throwing the ball from behind a touchline after it has been kicked out by an opponent.

>255) Tie – see cup tie

>256) Tifo – originally the Italian word for the phenomenon of supporting a football team, today mainly used for any spectacular choreography displayed by supporters on the terraces of a stadium in

connection with an association football match.

>257) Tiki-taka – style of play characterised by short passing and movement, working the ball through various channels and maintaining possession. The style is primarily associated with Spanish club Barcelona and the Spain national team.

>258) Toe punt – method of kicking the ball with the tip of the foot. Also known as a toe poke.

>259) Top corner – the parts of the goal immediately below the two 90° angles where the crossbar and posts intersect. Generally considered the most difficult part of the goal for a goalkeeper to reach.

>260) Top flight – the league at the highest level of a league system.

>261) Touch-line – markings along the side of the pitch, indicating the boundaries of the playing area. Throw-ins are taken from behind this line.

>262) Transfer window – period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other countries into their playing staff.

>263) Trap – skill performed by a player, whereupon the player uses their foot (or, less commonly, their chest or thigh) to bring an airborne or falling ball under control.

>264) Travelling army – expression used by commentators for any set of away fans – that is, fans who travelled to the match to support their team. Often a team's travelling army are referred to as the 12th man.

>265) Treble – achieved by a club that wins three major trophies in a single season.

Competitions generally considered as part of a treble include the top tier domestic league, domestic cup and continental cup. Trebles achieved without winning a continental competition are known as domestic trebles.

UEFA defines a European Treble as the feat of winning all three seasonal club confederation competitions.

>266) UEFA – acronym for Union of European Football Associations, the governing body of the sport in Europe; pronounced "you-eh-fa".

>267) Underdog – the team that is not expected to win a particular game or competition.

>268) Utility player – player who can be used in different positions or for different roles transcending the traditional division of outfield players into defenders, midfielders and strikers.

>269) Vanishing spray – short-lasting aerosol paint applied to the grass by the referee to mark the 10 yard exclusion area at a free kick.

>270) Video assistant referee (VAR) – a long campaigned method of determining close decisions, such as whether a ball crosses the goalline, using instant replays provided by cameras located at several angles. It was officially included into the Laws of the Game in 2018.

>271) Volley – pass or shot in which the ball is struck before it touches the ground.

>272) Wall or defensive wall – row of defensive players who line up 10 yards away from a free kick, covering a portion of the goal, with the intent making it more difficult for an attacking player to have a shot on goal direct from the free kick.

>273) Transfer Budget – the amount of money a manager has been given by a club's chairman, owner or

investors to acquire new players.

>274) Wing – area of the pitch that runs parallel to the sidelines.

>275) Winger – wide midfield player whose primary focus is to provide crosses into the penalty area. Alternatively known as a wide midfielder.

>276) Woodwork – the posts and the crossbar, commonly used in phrases like "the ball came back off

the woodwork", meaning a shot at goal struck either the post or the crossbar and remained in play.

>277) Worldy – a goal which is considered to be world class, e.g. "he scored with a worldy".

Also used to describe what is considered to be a world-class performance by a player not well known in the game, playing at a lower level.

>278) Work rate – the extent to which a player contributes to running and chasing in a match while not

in possession of the ball.

>279) World Cup – Associated with the FIFA World Cup, FIFA Women's World Cup, international tournaments for youth football, (such as the FIFA U-20 World Cup), and also the FIFA Club World Cup.

>280) X-rated challenge – malicious tackle when a player has possible motivation to injure an opponent, e.g, Lars' foul on Benjamin.

>281) Yellow card – shown by the referee to a player who commits a cautionable offence.

If a player commits two cautionable offences in a match, they are shown a second yellow card, followed by a red card, and are then sent off. Also known as a caution or a booking.

>282) Youth – a player (or team of players) contracted under the youth system, generally under the age of 18 and not playing professionally although youth players can appear for the first-team.

>283) Zonal marking – system of marking, in which each player is responsible for an area of the pitch, rather than an opposing player.