Extra Time Beckons, Penalties Loom: How to (and Abuse) The Language of Football

by Adam Hurrey

LONGLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD

A New Statesman Book of the Year

A Sunday Times Sports Book of the Year

"A hilarious examination of the football commentary language we all understand but don't know why" WHSBOTY 2024 Reading Panel


The long-awaited follow-up to Football Clichés, Adam Hurrey's cult classic about the language of football.

"So enjoyable ... fascinating and deliciously nerdy." FourFourTwo

"Adam Hurrey is the best observer of football culture in the world. He has a knack for either encapsulating something that's always nagged at you or nailing something you can't believe you haven't noticed before." Elis James

"The funniest, smartest book on the language of football. It sends out a message, silences the doubters and lets its football do the talking ... a Rolls-Royce of a book." David Goldblatt

***

Does language evolve? Yes, it does.

Will it ever be acceptable for a football commentator to call a shot that bounces before it goes in 'a screamer'? No, it will not.

As the self-appointed world expert on the subject, Adam Hurrey sets off to define the definitive rules of the language of football.

He will answer the big questions such is it acceptable to say a player is 'breaking their silence' (it's complicated), can headers can be 'lashed' (anatomically impossible), whether a penalty shootout could ever be described as 'late drama' (truly abhorrent), how many games constitute a 'bumper' day of Premier League action (minimum of eight) and just how big a deficit constitutes 'a mountain to climb' (certainly not Liverpool going 1-0 down at home to Wolves in the third minute, Sky Sports).

Along the way, Hurrey examines some case studies of how the football media has reached saturation point - the transfer rumour mill, the futile art of big-match previewing, the rise of (and backlash against) football jargon - and how its language has evolved to keep the machine going.

Have we let the football lexicon spiral out of control? In finding out, this book will be exactly as gloriously pedantic as it sounds.

Genres: Football, Audiobook, Soccer

240 pages, Hardcover

Published January 21, 2025

Reviews

[Jerry Shi · Rating 4 out of 5]

In short, to “Extra Time Beckons” I would say “Listen, Fair Play.”It is another phenomenal work from Adam Hurrey and perfect for all slightly neurotic football fans looking to poke fun at & analyze all the wonderful minutiae of our game. Maybe the game isn’t gone after all?


A really good listen. I must admit, for my sins, that I am a huge fan of Hurrey’s accomapnying podcast, “Football Cliches” and that in listening to this podcast for the last few years, it has done a lot to color my view of the footballing landscape. I certainly view this as a very positive thing, however my fandom of Football Cliches I think detracts very slightly from my listening experience of this book. Although both align with a certain perspective of English football, I think I prefer the more freeform & conversational mode of the podcast rather than the codified nature that is “Extra Time.” That is not to say that this book was not great, however. In fact, I enjoyed very much completing another one of Hurrey’s pieces. The slightly sarcastic yet obviously passionate, expansive, and detailed tone never wavered, and offered, to my ears, the primary driving force behind the strength of this book. However, I would say that “Extra Time” avoids scoring a 5/5 because of the comparison back to “Football Cliches."

Finished above international waters haha

[George Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was always going to be five stars as I’ve been listening to the pod nearly 4 years to the day, but this is a real barnstormer of a book. Listen, fair play to Adam for writing a Rolls Royce of a book. Get this in and around your bookcases.

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

cometh the audiobook cometh the narrator

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good - pretty much the dictionary accompaniment to Hurrey's excellent "Football Clichés" podcast, which dissects the often enigmatic, sometimes elegant, but often silly and vaguely nonsensical vocabulary of football commentary / punditry.

If you've ever found yourself raising an eyebrow at a commentator saying something like "he had acres of time there", or "a 2-1 thrashing"; or if you've ever wondered specifically what "the spine of the team" is supposed to mean, you'll like this a lot. The podcast is great in any case.

[Turlough Booth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant in audiobook format.
Incredible amount of research aided by the brilliant podcast Adam hosts.
Hilarious and intellectual - a real treat for the ears.
Thank you Adam for all the hours it must have taken.

[Thomas Norford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Authoritative, well written and I was pleased to see Hurrey owning the 'cometh the hour' fiasco. A little harsh on Dean Saunders in places. I listened to the audio version - renditions of football chants were perfectly judged.

[Захарченко Віктор · Rating 5 out of 5]

Десять років тому Адам Харрі написав кумедну книжку про футбольні кліше, і ніхто не думав, що тема вичерпана. Але автор повернувся у 2024 році з продовженням, яке стверджує: футбольна мова стала ще більш абсурдною, ніж будь-коли. На відміну від типових книг про тактику чи зірок спорту, ця занурюється в те, що ми зазвичай не помічаємо —у саму мову, якою ми говоримо про гру.

Центральна теза проста: футбольні кліше —це не просто вада журналістики, а унікальна таксономія, спосіб пояснити гру та розмістити мить у ширшому контексті. Коли мільйони людей дивляться один і той самий матч щотижня, повторювані фрази перестають бути просто штампами —вони стають мовою спільноти.

Адам Харрі —лондонський футбольний журналіст і редактор видання The Athletic, який у 2007 році створив блог Football Clichés, працюючи редактором телепрограм. Його досвід дозволяє йому бачити те, що інші пропускають: як одна фраза змінює значення залежно від контексту, чому деякі слова стають табу, а інші —обов’язковими. З 2020 року він веде популярний подкаст, де обговорює ці нюанси з гостями від коментаторів до прем’єр-міністра. У юності Харрі мав шанс потрапити в академію Свіндон Таун, але його відхилили як занадто низького —іронічна деталь для людини, яка згодом зробила кар’єру на спостереженні за тим, як інші грають у футбол словами.

[Gareth Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m seriously impressed. Adam has created such a near-exhaustive collection of the often bizarre language of football, with their often bizarre meanings. It had me nodding along, going ‘oh yeah’, and with the odd laugh, too. Very rarely was I thinking, ‘I’m not sure I’m with you, there’.

It wasn’t quite a page-turner - the podcast is my best listening every week, and the podcast-version of a ‘page-turner’ - there’s something about the way that those in-depth, light-hearted discussions come out of real-life, present football language-ing, that make it that bit more enjoyable.

But saying that, it’s basically a football dictionary, and it’s much more fun than a normal one. Great read!

[Ash Bebbington · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most pedantic book I've ever read and I mean that as a MASSIVE compliment. If you're in the middle of the venn diagram of football fan and language nerd, I cannot express the joy you'll get from this book.

[Chris Cullinane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here's a man who knows a thing or two about writing a book

[Tom Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had to read on my laptop , for my sins, still lovely

[Jack Forsyth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listen, fair play.

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listen, Fair play!!!

[Richard Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by Adam Hurrey, leader of the Football Cliches podcast, writes a humorous, witty and pedantic missive about the use of language in describing the great sport of football and how language and phrases are accepted in specific circumstances but would sound absurd in others. One can jump like a salmon for a header, but running like one may be troublesome!

I got the audiobook version to listen to while i was driving as I enjoy a podcast or something similar on a drive over half an hour or more and I enjoyed the repartee that Hurrey has with the specifics and nuances of the use of language around the sport in the UK which has developed over the decades of newspaper, television and now social media coverage.

The book is light-hearted, not too long, reflecting the humour of the podcast and the background of the source material, the absurdity and specificity of the language used around football, which nonetheless seems to be an understood form of communication amongst football fans. If you are not a football fan, or at least do not consume UK media around football it's likely that the phrasing and the humour may be either hard to comprehend or to relate to, passing some by so I would say it does limit its audience, but if you are its audience the book is funny and fast paced and you will start to reflect on the language around “the beautiful game” being more than a little ridiculous at times.

I enjoyed it and found the book a fun, reflective and entertaining read/listen. If you are a fan of football and enjoy thinking about the etymology of the language surrounding the sport and how it has such specific uses and vernacular. The book is somehow shallow, and has depth at the same time, but ultimately remains entertaining to the final whistle, if you are a British football fan I’d recommend this as a light hearted read.

[Sharif Farrag · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny and clever. Playfully, it aims to establish rules for the correct use of football terminology by playing close attention to how it is deployed by players, managers and commentators. It has something in common with Oxford ordinary language philosophy, though the author enjoys footbal language for its own sake and does not claim that paying attention to its use will illuminate underlying football reality (whatever than might mean).

[Lewis Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m an avid Clichés podcastman (for my sins) and thus Hurrey’s razor-sharp skewering of the language of football has already taken hold of my footballing brain.

This volume does lack the (to use a Keysian phrase) “bit of banter” common among messrs Eccleshare, Walker and Hurrey. Nevertheless it is not worthy of cracked badge as proper-football-man Hurrey simply just *gets* it. Thankfully, he lets his football (writing) do the talking.

This book is at its most high-flying as a piece of inside baseball dissecting the language of the Football Media. It does lack some narrative focus, with only a few story-like vignettes giving shape to what can sometimes just read as a long list of wry observations. You may ask whether this book ultimately praises The Beautiful Game or lambasts it? A bit of both.

Whisper it quietly, this book may well be a hit.

4*.