Football Lexicon

by John Leigh, David Woodhouse

A sort of Robbie Fowler's "Modern English Usage", this book provides an A to Row Z of the language of football, with over 800 examples of the set phrases we use to talk and write about the beautiful game.

Genres: Football

Hardcover

First published December 2, 2004

Reviews

[Rob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps a little indulgent of me to include this on my list but in spite of being best friends with one of the authors, I can recommend this as an exquisitely well written and laugh-out-loud expose of the curious terminology employed by football folk. The examples used are drawn from the obscure outer reaches of lower division and international soccer. Leigh is also the author and editor of books on Voltaire and Beaumarchais so has a range of strings to his bow.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

It turns out Football Cliches was a much catchier name because this covers the same ground, although this was definitely one to dip into as it was a touch dry. There were some astute observations and their understanding of how terms are used was accurate, but a few more entries could have done with the personal touch as those that did were much more entertaining.