In this football language podcast we look at the phrases ‘chalked off” and ‘the goal stands‘ which appeared on the BBC report on the Manchester City versus Tottenham game from the Women’s Super League. You can read a 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 [email protected].

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Football Language Podcast: 2021 WSL Man City v Spurs

DF: Hello everyone, this is Damian from the Languagecaster.com team – I hope you are all doing well. Now, on this short football language podcast, we look at the phrases ‘chalked off” and ‘the goal should not have stood‘  which both appeared in the BBC match report on the Tottenham win at Manchester City in theWwomen’s Super League last weekend.

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (Dulwich Hamlet fan).

Chalked off

This quote is from the Manchester City manager Gareth Taylor who was clearly upset about the controversial winning goal for Spurs. He uses the phrase ‘chalked off’ which is another phrase for disallowing or ruling out the goal. He wanted the goal to be chalked off by the referee as he felt there had been a clear handball by the Spurs player.

The goal shouldn’t have stood

The Manchester City manager goes on to say that the goal should not have stood which means it should not have been allowed. We use the verb ‘to stand’ when describing whether a goal has been given, it’s legal or if it counts, so for example, ‘despite the protests from the Manchester City players, the goal stood‘. In the Guardian report on the same game the following sentence uses both examples from today’s podcast: ‘The goal should have been chalked off but the referee, (Abigail Byrne), let it stand.’

Here’s another example, this time from the Manchester Evening News from July 2021: ‘Denmark’s opening goal against England should not have stood according to the laws of the game’ which means that the Danish goal should not have been allowed; it should have been disallowed.

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in German).

Good Bye

DF: Yes, you are listening to languagecaster.com – that message was in German.