Football has its own language, and if you're new to the women's game, some of the terms can be confusing. Our football jargon buster explains the most common football words, phrases and tactical terms in plain English, helping you understand commentary, match reports and conversations with confidence.
Clean sheet — When a team gets through the whole match without conceding a goal. Keepers and defenders love a clean sheet; it means they did their job.
Brace — Two goals scored by the same player in one match. Three goals is a hat-trick; four is sometimes called a haul.
Stoppage time (or injury time) — The extra minutes added on at the end of each half to make up for time lost to injuries, substitutions and celebrations. The fourth official holds up a board showing the minimum to be played.
Added time — Another name for stoppage time. If you hear "they've equalised in added time," it means the goal came in those bonus minutes.
Extra time — A different thing entirely. In knockout matches that are level after 90 minutes, two extra 15-minute halves are played to try to find a winner before penalties.
Own goal — When a player accidentally puts the ball into their own net. It counts as a goal for the other team, and it's every defender's nightmare.
Nutmeg — Playing the ball through an opponent's legs and collecting it on the other side. Cheeky, skilful, and guaranteed to get the crowd going.
Set piece — Any restart from a fixed position: a free-kick, corner or throw-in. Teams rehearse clever routines for these, because a well-worked set piece is a great chance to score.
Full-back — A defender who plays on the left or right edge of the back line. Modern full-backs do far more than defend — they charge forward to support attacks too.
Wing-back — A full-back with even more attacking freedom, used in formations with three central defenders. They're expected to cover the entire flank, up and back, for the whole game.
Holding midfielder — A midfielder who sits just in front of the defence, breaking up opposition attacks and keeping things tidy. Sometimes called the anchor or the "number six."
Playmaker — The creative hub of the team, usually a midfielder, whose job is to unlock defences with clever passes. The "number ten" is often the main playmaker.
Target player — A forward, often tall and strong, who holds the ball up with their back to goal so teammates can join the attack. The reference point a team plays toward.
False nine — A centre-forward who, instead of staying up front, drops deep into midfield. This drags defenders out of position and creates space for teammates to run into. It confuses defences precisely because there's no traditional striker to mark.
Sweeper keeper — A goalkeeper who comes out of their box to deal with through-balls and acts almost like an extra defender, rather than staying glued to the goal-line.
Formation — The way a team arranges its players, written as numbers from defence to attack. A 4-3-3 means four defenders, three midfielders and three forwards. It's the skeleton of a team's game plan.
High press — When a team hunts the ball high up the pitch, right in the opponent's half, trying to win it back quickly and close to goal. Energetic and aggressive, but it leaves space behind if it fails.
Low block — The opposite approach: a team drops deep, packs players in front of their own goal, and defends in numbers. Frustrating to break down, and often used by underdogs.
Counter-attack — Winning the ball and racing forward at speed before the opposition can get organised. Teams that sit in a low block often look to counter the moment they win possession.
Overlap — When a full-back runs outside and beyond their own winger to join the attack, giving the player on the ball an extra option down the flank.
Parking the bus — A slang phrase for extreme defending, where a team throws almost everyone behind the ball to protect a result. Picture a bus parked across the goal.
Transition — The moment possession changes hands and the game flips from attack to defence, or vice versa. Good teams are quick and organised in these split-seconds.
xG (expected goals) — A number that measures the quality of a chance. Every shot is rated on how likely it was to be scored, from 0 to 1, based on things like distance and angle. Add them up across a match and you get a team's xG — a truer picture of who created the better chances than the final score alone.
Possession — The percentage of the match a team spends with the ball. Having 60% possession means you held the ball for roughly six minutes in every ten. More possession doesn't always mean more goals, though.
Assist — The final pass or touch that sets up a goal for a teammate. The scorer gets the glory, but the assist is the pass that made it possible.
Big chance — A clear opportunity to score, where a player would reasonably be expected to hit the target. "Big chances missed" is a stat that tells its own story.
Distance covered — How far a player runs during a match, tracked by GPS. A busy midfielder can cover 10km or more in 90 minutes.
VAR (Video Assistant Referee) — An official watching video replays who can advise the on-pitch referee about clear and obvious mistakes on goals, penalties, red cards and mistaken identity. It's used in the top tiers of the game but not throughout the whole pyramid.
Offside — The rule that stops attackers goal-hanging. Put simply, an attacker can't be nearer the opponent's goal-line than both the ball and the second-last defender at the moment the ball is played to them. If they are, and they get involved, it's offside.
Advantage — When a foul is committed but the referee lets play continue because stopping it would actually help the team that was fouled. The ref signals it by sweeping both arms forward.
Booking (yellow card) — A formal caution for a foul or misconduct. Two yellows in one match add up to a red, and the player is sent off.
Straight red — A red card shown for a single serious offence, sending the player off immediately and leaving their team a player short.
Professional foul — A deliberate foul that stops a promising attack or denies a clear goal-scoring chance. Often punished with a red card because it's cynical rather than clumsy.
The double — Winning two major trophies in the same season, usually the league title and the main cup. Winning three is a treble.
Play-off — A one-off, winner-takes-all match (or short series) to decide promotion or relegation. In the women's game, the WSL and WSL 2 use a play-off to settle one of the promotion spots each season.
Group stage — The opening phase of some cup competitions, where teams are sorted into small groups and play each other, with the best advancing to the knockout rounds.
Knockout — A straight elimination format: lose, and you're out. The FA Cup runs this way from start to finish.
Deadline day — The final day of a transfer window, when clubs scramble to complete their last signings before the deadline slams shut. Always dramatic.
Derby — A match between two local rivals, such as the Manchester or North London derby. Extra spice, extra atmosphere, and bragging rights on the line.
Six-pointer — A match between two rivals close together in the table and chasing the same goal — promotion, a European place, or avoiding relegation. Called a "six-pointer" because the winner takes three points and denies their rival three, a swing worth double against a direct competitor.
Football's vocabulary keeps growing, and we'll keep adding to this guide as new terms creep into the commentary. If there's a phrase you've heard and can't make sense of, it's probably one we'll cover here soon.
Now you've got the lingo, put it to use — head back to the scores, tables and news and follow every twist of the women's game right here on SheScores.