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Football (Soccer) vocabulary · Competitions & Results

Relegation

Meaning in football (soccer), with examples

/ˌrelɪˈɡeɪʃən/nounCore term

In football (soccer), relegation means: Dropping down to a lower division at the end of the season after finishing in one of the bottom places of the league.

In Turkish: küme düşme, alt lige düşme

How it is used

Teams fight against relegation, are in a relegation battle or sit in the relegation zone, also called the drop zone. They avoid or escape relegation. The verb is relegate: "They were relegated on the final day." Fans simply say "we went down".

Example sentences

  1. One more defeat and we're in serious relegation trouble.

  2. The club avoided relegation on goal difference.

Common collocations

  • relegation battle
  • relegation zone
  • avoid relegation
  • relegation rivals
  • relegation-threatened
  • promotionMoving up to a higher division at the end of the season by finishing in one of the top places or by winning a play-off.
  • tableThe list that ranks the teams in a league by points, with goal difference and other figures; also called the league table or standings.
  • leagueA competition in which teams play each other over a season, usually home and away, and are ranked in a table by points.
  • goal differenceThe number of goals a team has scored minus the number it has conceded, used to separate teams that are level on points in a league table.

More terms: Competitions & Results

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