How to spot a fake fan

Rich: I was speaking to a this guy the other day and I said what team do you support? You won’t believe what he said.

Jack: What did he say?

Rich: He said he supported London.

Jack: Really??

Rich: I said London Utd or London City. He said Utd of course.

Jack: Brilliant.

Welcome

Rich: Hello my name’s Rich
 
Jack: and I’m Jack
 
Rich: and welcome to this week’s Premier Skills English podcast
 
Jack: Where we talk about football and help you with your English.

Jack: What’s happening this week, Rich?
 
Rich: In this week’s show, we’re going to talk about the double matchweek in the Premier League and we’re going to look at some phrases that you can use to spot a fake fan.

Jack: But first, let’s look at the Premier League headlines.

Headlines

Rich: Chelsea edge closer to the Premier League title.

Jack: After a surprising defeat to Crystal Palace, Chelsea bounced back by beating Manchester City. The Blues lead the Premier League by seven points with eight matches left to play.

Rich: Spurs stun Swansea with fast finish.

Jack: Chelsea’s closest challengers are Tottenham Hotspur but they left it late against Swansea. Spurs scored three goals in the last three minutes to win 3-1 and leave Swansea in the relegation zone.

Rich: Hull plan a great escape.

Jack: Hull City’s revival under their new manager continued. Two home wins this week has lifted the Tigers out of the relegation zone for the first time since October.

Rich: We don’t talk about Hull much but they are doing really well under their new manager Marco Silva.

Jack: He’s unbeaten at home as a manager in 40 matches with four different clubs. Estoril and Sporting Lisbon in Portugal, Olimpiakos in Greece and now Hull in the Premier League.

Rich: Incredible. He could save the Tigers from relegation.

Topic/Language Focus

Rich: In this week’s podcast, we’re going to help football fans spot a fake football fan

Jack: What do you mean a fake football fan Rich?

Rich: You know, not a real fan. Someone who pretends to be a fan. 

Jack: You mean like someone who says they support Manchester?

Rich: Exactly, they don’t know there are two teams in the city. A fan would say City or United. 

Jack: Yes. That would be like me saying I support London.

Rich: We’re going to help you spot one of these fake fans.

Jack: So, we’re going to look at some phrases that real football fans say and phrases that fake fans say when talking about football.

Jack: Where shall we start?

Rich: Let’s begin with some general questions that fake fans might ask football fans when watching a match

Jack: You can spot a fake fan if they ask things like: ‘What’s happening now?’ or ‘Why does the referee have his flag up?’ or the worst one ‘What’s offside?’

Rich; That’s right. And, they will just annoy real football fans. If you’re new to football and don’t want to sound like a fake fan, you shouldn’t ask these questions at a football match - you should find out before you go..

Jack: So, here are some football phrases that you can use to spot a fake fan. 

Rich: Let’s imagine that you are at a football match with some friends and you hear someone say.

Jack: I think this is going to be a great game. May the best team win.

Rich: Fake fan immediately! No real fan says this. Real fans  don’t care how they win. They can cheat, they can foul but they must win. Yes, it’s better if they are the better team but it’s not the most important thing.

Jack: So what should you say?

Rich: I don’t know - something like: Come on! We’ve got to get three points today.

Jack: What about when your team scores a goal?

Rich: You’ll probably hear something like: Get in!

Jack: If you hear slam dunk! You’ve got a fake fan on your hands.

Rich: Michael Jordan is not on the football pitch. A slam dunk is only used in basketball - if you say slam dunk you will sound silly. ‘Get in’ sounds natural but remember to sound happy or possibly a little bit aggressive when you say it.

Jack: When the other team scores a fan is going to say something like: you have to be joking or come on, we can get back into this.

Rich: If you hear: That was a good goal or the other team are much better, aren’t they? He or she is faking it. 

Jack: Don’t say this. You might make other fans angry. It’s not important if it’s true. You should keep quiet. When the other team score you can be cross or supportive but don’t say the other team is better or that they deserve to be winning.

Rich: What if you’re watching a match at home and a friend walks in and says: Who’s playing?

Jack: Fake fan, definitely. A fan might say What’s the score? But, they would definitely know who’s playing.

Jack: At the end of the match if Arsenal have lost I might say: The other team were lucky or if we have won I might say good result.

Rich: That’s because you’re a real fan, Jack! Whatever you do don’t say: Ah well, it’s only a game.

Jack: This will make a real football fan angry.

Rich: We get angry, very easily, don’t we.

Jack: Not if we win, Rich.

Rich: So, there are a few football phrases for football fans and non-football fans to use when talking about the match.

Jack: We’ve got a few more of these phrases further down the page, under this podcast and some language activities for you to look at.

Player of the Week

Rich: There were lots of great performances in the Premier League last week.

Jack: Son Heung Min scored in both matches for Spurs as Tottenham got two away wins at Burnley and Swansea. And Jamie Vardy also scored in both of Leicester’s wins against Sunderland and Stoke.

RIch: That’s six wins out of six for Leicester under their new manager - Craig Shakespeare. 

Jack: But our player of the week comes from the team performance of the week. That was Crystal Palace’s win away at Chelsea. And the player is Wilfried Zaha. He was the man of the match. He scored one and made the other in a 2-1 win.

Rich: You can read more about Zaha in our player article on the side of this page. He’s had an interesting career at both club and international level and he’s only 24 years old.

Can you work out this week’s football phrase?

Rich: Have you got a football phrase for us this week?

Jack: Yes, I have, but first, last week’s football phrase. The phrase was ‘a back four’. The back four is the name that we commonly use for the defence when there are two centre backs and two full backs.

Rich: We often describe this as a flat back four, too. Emir from Bosnia mentioned this in his answer so a special well done to him. And to Liubomyr from Ukraine, too, who didn’t give up and got the answer right on his third go.

Jack: Well done also to Ahmed Adam Mamado from Sudan, Numrut from Ukraine and Kwesimanifest from Ghana. You also got the right answer!

Rich: What’s this week’s phrase?

Jack: This week’s phrase is a bit difficult I think. The phrase is to ** *** ****** ****. It means to beat a team twice in one season. If you beat a team at home and away you ** *** ******* **** them.

Rich: Chelsea have **** *** ****** **** Manchester City. They beat them 3-1 away from home and this week beat them 2-1 at home. And Liverpool have **** *** ****** **** Everton this season.

Jack: I thought you might mention the derby double this week, Rich!

Rich: Right, that’s all we have time for this week. 

Jack: Don’t forget to write your answers to our questions and make a guess at our football phrase in the comments below. 

Rich: Bye for now and enjoy your football!