Premier Vocabulary is a mini-podcast for you to learn football English one word at a time. We have three different levels for you: easy, medium and hard.

This episode is easy so we’re looking at common football words and phrases. Things you use and need to know to play the game.

Summary

Learn more football vocabulary with Premier Skills English. Each lesson in our Premier Vocabulary section looks at one football word or phrase. This lesson looks at the word debut.

You can find more lessons on the side of this page.

Transcript

Rich: Hello my name’s Rich and welcome to Premier Skills English - Premier Vocabulary.

Jack: Hi there! I’m Jack. We’re here to help you with your football English. Premier Vocabulary is a mini-podcast for you to learn football English one word at a time.

Rich: We have three different levels for you: easy, medium and hard.

Jack: This episode is easy so we’re looking at common football words and phrases; things you use and need to know to play the game.

Rich: The word we are looking at in this episode is: debut.

Jack: The word debut is used to describe the first public appearance of a performer or sports player.

Rich: You need to be careful with the spelling. The word is spelled: DEBUT.

Jack: The word comes from French and you need to remember it’s got a T on the end. A silent T.

Rich: Debut is not just used to talk about football players, is it?

Jack: No. It can be used to talk about actors and other performers who are performing on stage for the first time.

Rich: An actor might make her film debut or her stage debut. The first would be her first appearance in a film and the second would be her first appearance in a play at the theatre.

Jack: We also might hear it used in connection with music. Bands and singers talk about their debut single or debut album.

Rich: These would be the first pieces of music a band has recorded and released to the public.

Jack: The Beatles debut album was called Please, please me.

Rich: Now we’re going to look at the word debut in a bit more detail and how we use it in sports and football.

Jack: Ross Barkley made his debut for Aston Villa last weekend. He scored on his debut.

Rich: Ross Barkley made his debut. That’s the most common collocation when a player plays for a club for the first time - to make your debut.

Jack: He scored on his debut. Lots of things can happen on your debut. You might score on your debut, save a penalty on your debut or get sent off on your debut.

Rich: Other collocations you might hear include full debut, first-team debut, league debut and international debut.

Jack: A full debut highlights that a player is starting a match for the first time. A player might have come on as a substitute in the past but have not started a game.

Rich: A first-team debut usually highlights a young player that might have played for a club’s youth teams but never for the senior side.

Jack: A league debut highlights a player that is playing in the league for the first time but may have previously played in cup competitions.

Rich: And an international debut is when a player represents their country for the first time.

Jack: There is the final whistle!

Rich: We’ll be back soon with more Premier Vocabulary from Premier Skills English.

Jack: Bye for now and enjoy your football.

Discuss

Has anyone made their debut for your club recently?

What's the best debut you can remember?