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 phrase fair play. 

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: Don’t forget you can always find the transcript for all our podcasts on the Premier Skills English website. 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 phrase we are looking at in this episode is: fair play. 

Jack: We see fair play written a lot around the pitch at the beginning of matches and we often see it on player’s shirts, too. 

Rich: What does it really mean? 

Jack: Fair play means playing a game in an honest and truthful way - always following the rules. Nobody should cheat or try to trick the referee. 

Rich: So, it means tackling another player fairly - not fouling your opponent. 

Jack: Yes, it means this - it’s the referee’s job to ensure fair play on the pitch and make sure that the game stops when there is a foul. 

Rich: But it’s also about not cheating. Players shouldn’t dive when they haven’t been touched or roll around on the floor a hundred times when they are tackled. This is not fair play. 

Jack: Yes, this is not fair play. When players do this they are often trying to trick the referee and get an unfair advantage. 

Rich: I suppose fair play is also about more than just tackles on the pitch and it’s often about things that are not written in the rules - things connected to the idea of respect and respecting the opposition. 

Jack: Can you think of any examples of fair play? 

Rich: What about when a player is injured and the other team kick it out of play? That is an example of fair play. 

Jack: I remember years ago when a player called Paulo Di Canio caught the ball instead of putting it in the net because the goalkeeper was injured. 

Rich: I remember that. I think he won some kind of fair play award - I’m not sure how many people would do it in the same situation. 

Jack: Yes, so fair play is about respecting the opposition and making sure that neither team has an unfair advantage. 

Rich: Liverpool not only won the Premier League last season. 

Jack: Oh no? What else did they win? 

Rich: They won the fair play league, too. The Premier League Fair Play table counts up how many yellow and red card a team gets during a season. 

Jack: And Liverpool got the fewest? Fair play to them. 

Rich: Other than the fair play table another useful collocation is financial fair play or financial fair play regulations. 

Jack: This was introduced by UEFA to stop clubs from spending too much money on player transfers and wages. 

Rich: Clubs need to make sure they only spend what they earn to make things fair. 

Jack: So we need to have fair play on and off the pitch. 

Rich: There is the final whistle! 

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

Rich: Bye for now and enjoy your football. 

Discuss

Why is it important to teach children about fair play?

Can you think of an example of fair play on the pitch?