Football Rivalries!

BBC Learning English
6 Minute English
Football rivalries
NB: This is not a word for word transcript
6 Minute English c bbclearningenglish.com 2011
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Alice: Hello, I'm Alice.
Stephen: And I'm Stephen.
Alice: And this is 6 Minute English! This week, we’re talking about rivalries
between football teams.
Stephen: Football rivalries - supporters of one football team often have one or two other
teams that they really dislike.
Alice: A bit of friendly rivalry probably doesn’t hurt anybody, but sometimes football
rivalries spill over into violence.
Stephen: Spill over into violence - when rivalry between fans leads to fighting.
Alice: First, a question for you Stephen: can you tell me which city these two football
teams come from? Al Ahly and Zamalek. Is it:
a) Cairo
b) Beirut, or
c) Damascus
Stephen: Well, my youngest brother would probably know the answer. I'm going to
guess Cairo.
6 Minute English c bbclearningenglish.com 2011
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Alice: Well, I won’t tell you the answer just yet. We'll find out at the end of the
programme. Now, let’s talk a bit more about football rivalries. Here’s a word
that gets used in British English: can you explain what a derby is?
Stephen: Sure. A derby, in the context of football, is a match played between two
football teams from the same city, or near each other. It’s thought the word
comes from a rugby-like game played by two teams in a town in Derbyshire, in
central England.
Alice: In Britain, famous derbies are games played between Arsenal and Tottenham
Hotspur, which are both in north London, Liverpool and Everton, or Celtic and
Rangers - two football teams in Glasgow in Scotland. They have a bitter rivalry
- and matches between the two often involve heated exchanges.
Stephen: Heated exchanges – lots of passion and anger.
Alice: Here’s BBC sports reporter Alex Capstick, reporting on a recent match
between Celtic and Rangers, which turned into mayhem - chaos:
Insert 1: Alex Capstick, BBC sports reporter
Matches between the Glasgow neighbours Rangers and Celtic usually involve heated
exchanges, but the mayhem during the latest clash has been described as an
embarrassment to Scottish football. Rangers had three players sent off. Celtic's manager,
Neil Lennon, and Rangers' assistant coach, Ally McCoist, had to be dragged apart
following an ugly confrontation after the final whistle.
6 Minute English c bbclearningenglish.com 2011
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Alice: BBC sports reporter Alex Capstick, who says that players were sent off and
that managers and coaches got involved in an ugly confrontation after the
final whistle.
Stephen: An ugly confrontation after the final whistle – angry fighting after the match
had ended.
Alice: The First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond, is setting up a summit to deal
with the violence. He says the players are role models for society.
Stephen: Supporters will follow their example.
Insert 2: Alex Salmond, First Minister, Scotland
The fans at football matches are representatives of their clubs, the players at football
matches are role models for society, and the management of football clubs have a
particular responsibility and they must, absolutely must, behave responsibly.
Alice: The First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond, says the football clubs have a
particular responsibility, and they absolutely must behave responsibly.
Stephen: They must set a good example to fans watching the matches.
Alice: Policemen in Scotland say that even cases of domestic violence increase when
the two Glaswegian clubs play each other.
Stephen: People watching the match at home are more likely to become violent towards
their families during or after the matches.
6 Minute English c bbclearningenglish.com 2011
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Alice: Les Grey from the Scottish Police Federation says attention needs to be given
to future fixtures – the times when games are played. For example, there's less
violence if games are played midweek, in the evening, rather than at the
weekend. He says changing licensing laws - the sale of alcohol - might help
prevent people becoming violent.
Insert 3: Les Grey, Scottish Police Federation
If that game hadn’t been on a Wednesday night, we’d have seen a lot more trouble had
that been a Sunday lunchtime game or even a Saturday afternoon game. So we’ll be
looking at when to play these games. We need to look at the licensing laws. We need to
look at the coverage of the games, and by that I’m going to upset a lot people and say
perhaps we need to stop televising one or two of them. There’s a direct correlation
between what happens during the game and what happens after the game. If I tell you
the latest figures just in - I was informed last night that domestic violence incidents
jumped 70% on Wednesday evening after the game. That’s a huge jump.
Alice: Les Grey from the Scottish Police Federation, who says that incidents of
domestic violence jumped by 70% after the last Celtic versus Rangers match.
He said there’s a direct correlation between what happens during the game and
what happens afterwards.
Stephen: A direct correlation – a clear link or relationship
Alice: And he even proposes a very unpopular idea: to stop televising some of the
games. Well, before we go, Stephen, any ideas about the city the two teams Al
Ahly and Zamalek come from?
Stephen: Well, I guessed Cairo, and…
6 Minute English c bbclearningenglish.com 2011
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Alice: You're correct – well done! So, a chance to hear some of the words and phrases
we heard in the programme today. Would you mind, Stephen?
Stephen: rivalries
spill over
derby
heated exchanges
mayhem
ugly confrontation
role models
domestic violence
licensing laws
Alice: Thanks for that, Stephen.
Stephen: You’re welcome.
Alice: Well that’s all we have time for today. We’ll have more 6 Minute English next
time. Bye!
Stephen: Bye for now!
6 Minute English c bbclearningenglish.com 2011
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Vocabulary and definitions
rivalries competition between people, often based on their political
views or support for a sports team
spill over here, influencing or causing something else to start, or
become more serious
derby here, a football match between two football teams based in
the same town, city or region
heated exchanges passionate or angry discussions
mayhem uncontrolled, chaotic situation
ugly confrontation
argument or fight between people, possibly involving
violent behaviour or insulting language
role models
people who are well-known to the public, and shown as
positive examples of how to live your life
domestic violence
physical abuse in the home, usually where one family
member attacks another
licensing laws regulations or rules laws about where and when alcoholic
drinks can be sold
More on this story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/9419232.stm
Read and listen to the story online:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/general/sixminute/2011/03/110317_6min_english_football_rivalries_page.shtml