The Football Dictionary

The Premier League is the top division of English football. Founded in the 1992/93 season, replacing the old Football League, it consists of 20 teams with 3 teams relegated and replaced with 3 teams promoted from the Championship (the English second division) every season. The Premier League has become the biggest and most popular league in the world in the last twenty years, with a global audience of nearly 5 billion people across 212 territories, and a broadcasting deal worth just over £9 billion. The Premier League is where the best players play, the best managers ply their trade, and the fastest, most exciting football is played.

The Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is the English season curtain-raiser that is played between the winners of the Premier League and the FA Cup the previous season. If a team wins the double of both Premier League and FA Cup, the other team in the Community Shield will be the runners-up from the Premier League. It is traditionally played at Wembley Stadium, although in some seasons the game has been played in Cardiff and Leicester. The fixture exists in other countries as a Super Cup of some sort, and also in European competition as the European Super Cup (a match between the Champions League winners and the Europa League winners).

A type of run-up that some players make when striking a penalty kick. Ronaldo perfected the stutter penalty. It offers greater control over the ball but loses out on the power of a long run-up, also playing mind games with the keeper, waiting until the last moment to strike the ball, hoping that the keeper dives first.

The Spidercam is a camera system that is suspended above the playing field by cables. It allows television broadcasters to move the camera both horizontally and vertically with speed and precision to get some incredible action shots during football matches.

A super sub is a player that performs well when being brought on as a substitute rather than starting a game, usually scoring a late winning goal. There are plenty of examples of players who have been given the tag of ‘Super Sub’ because of how good they were at reading the match when sitting on the bench, then coming on and exploiting the weaknesses they had picked up on. A good manager knows who and when to substitute on to change a match.

Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA since 2016. He has been heralded as a hero by many African and Asian football federations as he has been key to expanding the World Cup to 48 teams and growing funds for the game in parts of the world that previously felt left out. To European and South American eyes, Infantino has become synonymous with a corrupt FIFA, becoming the centre of attention rather than the administrator the FIFA president should be as head of a non-profit organisation.

The No Racism Gesture was implemented by FIFA to empower players, team officials, and referees to take a stand against racism when it occurs during a match, whether on the pitch or in the stands. If a person wants to alert the referee that racist abuse has taken place they cross their hands at the wrists, prompting the referee to start a three-step procedure, the last step being the suspension of the match.

Under Article 27 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (FDC), the FIFA Disciplinary Committee has the discretion to suspend disciplinary action that has been taken by a referee in a previous match. For example, a red card can be suspended, with a probationary period of anywhere up to four years. If the player in question commits another act of a similar nature within the defined suspension period, the sanction is reactivated alongside any additional disciplinary measures.

Top bins is football slang for goals that are scored where the ball hits the very top corner of the net - near the stanchion or the ‘postage stamp’ where the crossbar meets the posts. It takes high precision and power to place the ball in such a hard-to-reach area of the goal. It’s the peak of shooting, often a worldie.

Italian for “biscuit”, it is a term used when two teams enter a final group game or league fixture knowing a particular results – usually a draw – eliminates a third side and suits both the teams playing just fine. It originates from historical horse-racing cheats, where targeted horses were fed a ‘biscuit’ laced with sedatives prior to a race. In football, sometimes teams genuinely play for a point and there is no outright collusion. If a scoreline suits both sides it’s natural they play to that result. The term is rooted in Italian football but applies wherever groups are involved.