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Hard: The top flight

Hard: The top flight

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 hard so we’re looking at more difficult football phrases and idioms.

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 the top flight

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. 

Rich: Remember you can find transcripts for all of our podcasts on the Premier Skills English website.

Jack: 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 hard so we’re looking at more difficult football phrases and idioms. These phrases can be used to talk about football but are also useful when talking about other topics.


Rich: The phrase we are looking at in this episode is: the top flight.

Jack: Top flight is used to describe something that is of the highest quality or level and doesn’t have anything to do with flying or aeroplanes.

Rich: We can talk about top-flight scientists, top-flight universities, top-flight engineers and we mean scientists, universities, and engineers of the highest level or quality.

Jack: We also use top flight to talk a lot about football and sport more generally.

Rich: Top-flight football or the top flight.

Jack: The top flight is used to describe the top level or division in professional sport.

Rich: In English football there are four fully professional divisions: League Two, League One, the Championship and the Premier League.

Jack: The Premier League is the highest level or top level so is often called the top flight or the top flight of English football.

Rich: We often use the phrase in the top flight.

Jack: Leeds United are back in the top flight this season after 16 years in the Championship.

Rich: Bournemouth were relegated last season after five seasons in the top flight.

Jack: Top-flight can also be used as an adjective.

Rich: When we use top-flight as an adjective we usually join the two words together with a hyphen. 

Jack: We can say that Alex Ferguson was a top-flight manager for 27 years.

Rich: We can say that Sheffield United, West Ham United and Newcastle United are all top-flight football teams.

Jack: The top flight is not only used to describe the Premier League. The top flight in Spain is called La Liga and the top flight in Germany is called the Bundesliga.

Rich: What’s the top flight called in your country?


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.

Comment

Discuss

What is the top flight called in your country?

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Comments

KareemZain
10/08/2023
EG
383
points

The top-flight league in my country is called The Egyptian premier league.


KareemZain
10/08/2023 16:11
Egypt
Manchester City
383

The top-flight league in my country is called The Egyptian premier league.

Michaelsun
06/03/2022
CN
738
points

The top flight is called Chinese Super League.


Michaelsun
06/03/2022 13:26
China
Manchester United
738

The top flight is called Chinese Super League.

Richard J's picture
Richard J
28/08/2021
EC
2846
points

In Ecuador the top-flight division is called "La Liga Pro"


Richard J's picture
Richard J
28/08/2021 21:45
Ecuador
Liverpool
2846

In Ecuador the top-flight division is called "La Liga Pro"

Gabriel Amaral's picture
Gabriel Amaral
21/05/2021
BR
1512
points

In Brazil, the top flight is called "Brasileirão Série A"


Gabriel Amaral's picture
Gabriel Amaral
21/05/2021 18:06
Brazil
Arsenal
1512

In Brazil, the top flight is called "Brasileirão Série A"

Mo'men Mohammed's picture
Mo'men Mohammed
06/04/2021
EG
438
points

Our top-flight league in Egypt is "Egyptian Premier League" (EPL) ... :) !


Mo'men Mohammed's picture
Mo'men Mohammed
06/04/2021 13:17
Egypt
Arsenal
438

Our top-flight league in Egypt is "Egyptian Premier League" (EPL) ... :) !

hsn's picture
hsn
29/11/2020
TR
5560
points

What is the top flight called in your country?
The top flight-league is called SÜPER LİG in Turkey.


hsn's picture
hsn
29/11/2020 18:03
Turkey
Tottenham Hotspur
5560

What is the top flight called in your country?
The top flight-league is called SÜPER LİG in Turkey.

Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
17/09/2020
UA
6578
points

They call it УПЛ - Украинская Премьер Лига - Ukrainian Premier League here in Ukraine. 


Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
17/09/2020 07:31
Ukraine
Liverpool
6578

They call it УПЛ - Украинская Премьер Лига - Ukrainian Premier League here in Ukraine. 

Roberto Avelar's picture
Roberto Avelar
16/09/2020
BR
110
points

In Brazil, the top-flight is called Brasileirão , that is the first division (Série A) in the country. Others leagues are série B, serie C and série D.


Roberto Avelar's picture
Roberto Avelar
16/09/2020 21:30
Brazil
Manchester City
110

In Brazil, the top-flight is called Brasileirão , that is the first division (Série A) in the country. Others leagues are série B, serie C and série D.

ldzingirai's picture
ldzingirai
15/09/2020
ZW
1749
points

Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League (ZPSL) is the top-flight football league in Zimbabwe. Two other leagues are Division One and Division Two.


ldzingirai's picture
ldzingirai
15/09/2020 23:39
Zimbabwe
Chelsea
1749

Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League (ZPSL) is the top-flight football league in Zimbabwe. Two other leagues are Division One and Division Two.

mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
10/09/2020
TR
6539
points

In my current country Turkey the top flight is called Süper Lig whereas in Egypt my original country the top flight is called Premier League as well.


mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
10/09/2020 19:38
Turkey
Manchester United
6539

In my current country Turkey the top flight is called Süper Lig whereas in Egypt my original country the top flight is called Premier League as well.

Yoshichika's picture
Yoshichika
10/09/2020
JP
76
points

In Japan, top-flight league is called "J1". J1 means Japan Professional Football League divison 1.


Yoshichika's picture
Yoshichika
10/09/2020 15:44
Japan
Liverpool
76

In Japan, top-flight league is called "J1". J1 means Japan Professional Football League divison 1.

Leaderboard

Top Scorers
RankNameScore
1Alex_from_Ukraine6578
2mobeckham6539
3hsn5560
4wsanta5086
5kwesimanifest4779
6Liubomyr4417
7elghoul3988
8assemjuve3705
9aragorn19863557
10Gergő Nagy3396
Country ranking
RankNameScore
1Colombia74676
2Ukraine33885
3Spain29525
4Serbia27426
5Brazil23505
6Albania20578
7Vietnam20460
8Turkey20111
9Macedonia19074
10Bosnia and Herzegovina16333
Club ranking
RankNameScore
1Manchester United146938
2Liverpool111453
3Chelsea90265
4Arsenal86299
5Manchester City58908
6Tottenham Hotspur19499
7Newcastle United10626
8West Ham United7701
9AFC Bournemouth4915
10Crystal Palace4568

Level

5
Average: 5 (1 vote)

Goals

Learn more football vocabulary.