Football words and expressions beginning with D

[Alex Case]

Any kind of feedback and suggestions gratefully accepted

D (the)- The normal colloquial name for the PENALTY ARC, which players must stay outside while a penalty is being taken
Dangerous position- A FREE KICK which is likely to lead to a goal, for example because it is near the goal or the attacking side has a DEAD BALL SPECIALIST
Dead ball specialist- Someone who is particularly good in DEAD BALL situations, especially someone who is very good at FREE KICKs
Dead ball- A situation in which play has stopped and so the side which has the ball can take their time about how and when they move the ball into play, e.g. a penalty or corner. Some teams spend a lot of time planning and practising these situations.
Debut- The first time a player plays for a particular side or at a particular level, e.g. “He must be very nervous to have his international debut at the age of 17”
Decider- A goal or match which settles which team will win, e.g. one which gives one side an UNASSAILABLE LEAD, or a GOLDEN GOAL
Decision- What the referee decides, for example whether a player was OFF SIDE and so whether a goal should be DISALLOWED or not
Deducted- Points taken off a team’s total for the season (so far) for breaking the rules, for example illegally TAPPING players, bribing REFEREEs, going bankrupt, or THROWING a match
Defend a lead- Stopping the other team scoring to even up the score, for example defending when it is 1-0 to your team at HALF TIME or when the score is 2-1 to your team after the FIRST LEG
Defender- A person whose main role is to stop the opposition’s attacking players from scoring and getting the ball near their goal
Defensive midfielder- A midfielder whose main role is to PLAY DEEP or SHIELD the defenders, i.e. whose main duties are defensive
Defensive wall- see WALL
Deficit- Deficit from the away leg
Deficit- The number of goals or points that a team is behind
Deflection- A SHOT AT GOAL hitting a player that is in the way and so changing route, often making it harder to SAVE and so causing a goal
Deliberate hand ball- Most HAND BALLs just involve the ball accidentally hitting someone on the hand or lower arm, but players sometimes try to use their hands or arms to CONTROL the ball. See HAND OF GOD for a famous example
Demotion- The same as RELEGATION. The opposite of PROMOTION.Being forced to go down to a lower DIVISION because you finished the SEASON
Derby- A match between sides who play in grounds that are close to each other, for example in the same or neighbouring towns
Direct free kick- A FREE KICK that will count as a goal if it goes into the NET without touching any other players. The opposite of INDIRECT FREE KICK.
Dirty match- A match that has many FOULs and so probably many CARDs given in it
Dirty team- A team that FOULs the other team a lot, or even aims to injure people
Disallowed goal- The time when the ball goes INTO THE NET but the referee says it was not a goal, for example because a player was OFFSIDE
Dissent- Arguing too much with the referee, for example after a CARD is given. This can lead to a RED CARD or other punishment.
Dive- A player pretending that they have been FOULed and falling over so that they can get a FREE KICK, PENALTY or even a BOOKING for a player on the other team. This is an offense and will lead to a CARD for the attacking player if the REFEREE decides that it is a DIVE rather than a FOUL
Diving header- A header of a LOW CROSS, meaning that the player’s body is nearly horizontal when they make contact with the ball and that they usually land flat on the ground
Division champions- The team at the top of the TABLE at the end of the SEASON. The division champions of the top division, e.g. the English PREMIERSHIP, are LEAGUE CHAMPIONS, and the division champions of lower divisions are usually PROMOTED
Division- Usually 12 to 16 teams who play each other twice during a SEASON to see which team will be DIVISION CHAMPIONS, which teams will get a PROMOTION and which teams will get a RELEGATION, for example the English PREMIERSHIP
Domestic double- Winning two different competitions in your own country, e.g. the FA CUP and the LEAGUE in the same season
Domestic football season- The part of the year when teams play in competitions in their own country, often with tours to other countries beforehand and with European and other international finals afterwards
Domestic- Things in your own country, contrasting with international, European etc
Draw (1) equal scores at the end of a match (2) picking which teams will play against which in a championship
Dressing room- The place where the players get changed before and after a match. Also CHANGING ROOMS and LOCKER ROOM
Dribble- Controlling the ball with your feet as you run
Drop back- Players playing for a while closer to their own goal than usual, e.g. to defend against an attacking move or to DEFEND A LEAD
Dummy- Pretending you are going to move one way so that you can GO PAST by moving in the other direction, or the same with kicking the ball. Also FEINT

The index of all past and future letters in the dictionary is here:
https://www.usingenglish.com/forum/g...ngenglish.html

[Raymott]

Any kind of feedback and suggestions gratefully accepted

I think the first few words of some definitions could be tightened up. For example:
Dive - An action by a player pretending that they
A dive isn't a player.
Disallowed goal - The time When the ball
A goal isn't a time.
Actually, this happens a few times. You could delete "The time" from all definitions starting with "When ..."
It really should read, "A goal scored when the ball ...", but colloquially, "When ..." works.
Drop back - Players playing for a while
Are the players a drop back, or is this an action? My football knowledge doesn't permit me to make a call. Perhaps, as in DIVE, "an action taken by players who ..." or "A move by players ..."
Dummy - Pretending you are going ...
The problem here is defining a noun, "Dummy" as a verb, "pretending" (OK, it might be a gerund). Is the player the dummy, or is the action a dummy? If the latter, how about, "A move by a player who pretends to be going ..."

I hope you don't consider these suggestions too trivial. But you're putting a lot of effort into it, so I guess you might as well make it sound good as well as being very informative.

[Alex Case]

Thanks Raymott. I got so overwhelmed by the number of words and expressions to define that I hadn't even started thinking about the grammar. Bad English teacher, Alex!

Does anyone think it is worth putting more grammatical information in, e.g. (n), (adj) etc?

[philadelphia]

Thanks Raymott. I got so overwhelmed by the number of words and expressions to define that I hadn't even started thinking about the grammar. Bad English teacher, Alex!

Does anyone think it is worth putting more grammatical information in, e.g. (n), (adj) etc?

Yes, it is worth. Though, if you have not enough time left, do not bother

[bertietheblue]

diamond, as in 'diamond formation'. Definition is here somewhere:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formati...ation_football)

[Alex Case]

I put it under M for MIDFIELD DIAMOND, but you're right that a link to D would make sense. Keep them coming!

[BobK]

More on 'dummy'. The person who executes one sells a dummy. I don't know whether the colloquial use of 'buy it' (to mean 'believe it') is related; it would be neat if A sold B a dummy, and B bought it.

b