Take Away English-Sports English - 体育运动英语（在线收听）

Football in the UK - 英国足球

Football is the most popular sport in the world. It is estimated that around 250 million people regularly play whilst many millions more watch the game on television.

In the UK teams such as Manchester United and Chelsea compete in the Premier League. The Premier League, also called the Premiership, is the division where the twenty best English teams play.

Premiership players can earn millions of pounds every year, not only from their wages but also from sponsorship by companies like Nike and Adidas.

Football has a vocabulary of its own. A game of football is known as a football match . The match kicks off when the referee blows his whistle and the ball is kicked for the first time. The aim of the game is to score more goals than the other team.

The referee makes sure that both teams play by the rules. If the ball goes out of the sides of the pitch , he gives a throw in . If the ball, leaves the ends of the pitch, a corner is given. When a player commits a foul , the referee may give the other team a free kick or even a penalty . In extreme cases the referee may send off a player by giving him a red card .