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Learn English Through Football Podcast: Silence the Crowd
In this football language podcast we take a look at the phrase, ‘silence the crowd‘ and how it is used in football. We also look ahead to next weekend’s football with our predictions competition. You can read the 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 admin@languagecaster.com.
Welcome
DF: You’re listening to the Learning English Through Football Podcast.
Hi everyone, my name’s Damian and I am in London and I am one half of the Learn English Through Football Podcast team. The other half is, of course, Damon, who is based in Tokyo, where I hear there is some lovely autumn weather: bright but chilly. The weather here in London is similar to that in Tokyo. I wonder what’s the weather like where you are?
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Dutch)
Today’s Show
DF: Yes, you are listening to Languagecaster.com, and that message was in Dutch. You will hear some more stingers throughout the show – do you know what languages they are? Would you like to add your own language for a future podcast? If so, then let us know how to say ‘you are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast’ in your language and send it on to us at admin@languagecaster.com.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Thai)
DF: Right, so this week is an international break which means that there are no domestic club matches taking place but instead we have Nations League and [2026] World Cup qualifiers. We’re going to look at a phrase that emerged from one of those Nations League matches and we will also take a look at some predictions from some of the other big international matches.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Greek)
Silence the Crowd
DF: We have already mentioned that it is an international break and so I am going to explain a phrase that I heard from the Nations League game between Greece and England: ‘to silence the crowd‘. When a team plays at home they tend to have advantages such as they don’t have to travel too far, they know their surroundings well and of course the crowd or home support is going to be mostly cheering them on. The influence of the home crowd is often an important factor and sometimes they can affect how the away team performs; the home fans often try to intimidate the away team, for example.
In their Nations League game, England travelled to Greece knowing that the home support would be very loud in order to try and put off the England team. But an early goal from England’s Ollie Watkins meant the crowd soon became quiet – England quietened the crowd or another phrase that we use is ‘silenced the crowd‘. In this situation, the atmosphere is not as hostile and the away team are under less pressure.
Sometimes we hear a manager or a player say before an away game (especially at a difficult away ground), that their team will try to ‘silence the crowd‘ early on which means that they can take the sting out of the game; they keep the ball and make the home fans lose some of their energy and so make it easier to do well.
Here is a BBC report from a Champions League match between Newcastle and Dortmund from 2023 in which the away side easily defeated the hosts.
- ‘I thought Dortmund killed the crowd with the way they played in the first half and that’s what you’ve got to do.
- The one thing that Paris St-Germain didn’t do when they came here was kill the crowd. If anything, they got the crowd up with the way they played. Dortmund were a different… they were professional… they knew how to silence the crowd’
So, this pundit suggested that Dortmund played really well in the first half; meaning that the home team’s fans did not make too much noise and he used a more exaggerated form of this phrase, ‘to kill the crowd‘ which means to really reduce the noise from the home support; they silenced the home crowd with a strong performance.
Will your team be able to silence the home fans the next time they play a big game away from home? I’m hoping my favourite team Tottenham do this as they play away at champions Manchester City.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Brazilian Portuguese)
Glossary
DF: So, our website and podcasts are all about the language of football. The best place to start if you want to check a meaning of a word or phrase you hear that’s connected with football is our football-language glossary. We have hundreds of entries with real-life examples and clear explanations. Come along to our site to check it out.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Welsh)
Predictions
DF: Right, let’s take a look at the predictions table. I am still one point ahead of the guests but seven points clear of Damon in third place. What about this week’s games? Well, it is an international break which means we are going to try and predict two games from the Nations League and one match from the South American World Cup qualifiers (CONMEBOL). First up is England taking on Ireland in League B Group 2 which is the second tier of European football. England need a win to come top of the group and be promoted to the top division next year while Ireland, although they recently defeated Finland, are still in transition. It should be an easy England win, especially at Wembley but I think there might be a surprise – maybe a 1-1 draw although that may be my heart over my head! In the other European Nations League game we are featuring sees two powerhouses or heavyweights of international football face each other: Italy host France. I think this will end in a 1-1 draw too. Finally, Brazil take on Uruguay in a World Cup qualifier and I think Uruguay will surprise the hosts and win 2-1. How about you, what do you think? What do you think? Don’t forget that you can add your predictions onto our forum page or here on our website.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Spanish)
Contact
DF: We’d love to hear from you about anything connected with football and football language. If you would like to be a guest predictor, have a football related question, or just want to give us some feedback, drop us an email at admin@languagecaster.com. Make sure to visit our glossary and our football-language forum where you can ask and answer any questions you have. Just come along to languagecaster.com. Spread the word and give us a like or a follow.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Japanese).
Goodbye
DF: Yes, that message was in Japanese – did you manage to guess any of the other languages throughout the show? We had speakers from Brazil, Thailand, Greece, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Wales.
OK, that’s it for this week’s football-language podcast in which we looked at the phrase ‘to silence or to quieten the crowd‘. How would you say this in another language? Let us know by leaving a comment on our site or by dropping us an email. Enjoy all the football this weekend and we’ll be back with more football language next week. Bye bye!