Okuzeka
Football (Soccer) vocabulary · Club, Coaching & Training

Bench

Meaning in football (soccer), with examples

/bentʃ/nounCore term

In football (soccer), bench means: The seats beside the pitch for the substitutes and coaching staff; also the group of substitutes available in a match.

In Turkish: yedek kulübesi, yedekler

How it is used

A player is on the bench, starts on the bench, comes off the bench or is left on the bench. A strong bench means good substitutes. As a verb, to bench a player means to leave them out of the starting line-up.

Example sentences

  1. He came off the bench to score the winner.

  2. Our bench is much stronger than last season.

Common collocations

  • on the bench
  • come off the bench
  • start on the bench
  • strong bench
  • substituteA player who starts the match on the bench and can come on to replace a teammate during the game.
  • dugoutThe covered shelter at the side of the pitch where the manager, coaching staff and substitutes sit during a match.
  • squadAll the players available to a team for a season or a competition, from whom the starting eleven and the substitutes are chosen.
  • line-upThe list of players a team starts a match with, usually including their positions, published about an hour before kick-off.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Club, Coaching & Training

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