Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 6:32 — 13.2MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Blubrry | Podchaser | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | Youtube Music | RSS | More
Weekly Football Phrase: No Fluke
In this football phrase of the week we look at the expression, ‘no fluke‘ after Southampton defeated Arsenal in the FA Cup quarter final at the weekend. You can read the transcript for this post below, while you can also check out our glossary of footballing phrases here and visit our site to access all our previous posts and podcasts. You can also find out more about this phrase in our football language forum. If you have any suggestions or questions then you can contact us here.
DF: Hello everyone. This is Damian from the Learn English Through Football team and I hope you are all doing well. I am here in a sunny London and it is just after Easter when we had lots of football, including the FA Cup quarter finals. And we are going to look at a phrase from one of those games in today’s football expression podcast. And the expression is: no fluke.
My team Tottenham didn’t play this weekend but I did go and see QPR play in the Championship on Friday – they beat Watford to remain in mid-table, which means they won’t be going up to the Premier League next season. How about you? Did you watch any football this weekend? Did your team win or draw? Or maybe they lost?
Stinger: You are listening to Languagecaster (in Spanish)
DF: Yes, you are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast, or as we were known before, Languagecaster. And that message was in Spanish.
No fluke
DF: Right, this week’s football expression is from the FA Cup quarter-final game between Southampton, from the Championship, and Premier League leaders Arsenal which Southampton, the Saints, won 2-1 to qualify for the semi final. One of the pundits from BBC television, Alan Shearer, felt that this victory was not a lucky one but a deserved win and he used the expression, ‘not a fluke‘ to describe this win. A fluke is something that happens completely by chance; something very lucky indeed. Sometimes we might hear the adjective form, ‘flukey‘ – a flukey goal or a flukey win, for example which mean that the goal or the win was a lucky one.
Sometimes a team from a lower division or tier when they play against a team from a higher division can defend deeply and maybe get a lucky goal on the break and this would be a flukey goal or a flukey win – they were lucky to win. But if we say that the victory was not a flukey one or not a fluke we mean that the lower-ranked side actually played really well and fully deserved their win.
- “This is not a fluke,” said former Saints striker Alan Shearer on BBC One. And he was right. Victory went to the better side on the night (BBC.co.uk, April 2026)
And here he wants to emphasise that although Southampton play in a division lower than Arsenal, they deserved their win – it was not a lucky win.
Here’s another example from the BBC:
- The number of points won by Bolton Wanderers from last-minute goals this season is not a fluke, according to boss Steven Schumacher
In this example, the manager of Bolton wants to emphasise that late goals for his side does not mean they are lucky but actually because they have other good characteristics such as fitness, strength and spirit.
Here’s another newspaper example (this time from the Guardian) about Morocco’s amazing World Cup run in 2021; it was unexpected but because the team played well with organisation and skill the writer suggests that it was not a fluke at all.
-
Morocco’s joyous World Cup journey has been unexpected – but it’s no fluke (Guardian.co.uk, December 2022)
Luck of the draw
DF: Now, another phrase that we use in cup matches and is associated with luck is ‘luck of the draw‘ which is often used to describe a team having good fortune when the draw is made for the next rounds of the cup or a tournament. Teams always prefer to play at home and if they can do this against a team lower than them in the rankings it makes it easier to qualify for the next round. Some teams seem to draw lower-ranked teams or be drawn at home on a regular basis and are then called lucky by opposing fans – they always seem to have the luck of the draw.
Now, we will be looking at the 2026 World Cup very soon – I wonder what teams seem to have a good draw; which teams have the luck of the draw?
Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast (in Arabic)
Goodbye
DF: OK, so on this week’s football expression we have looked at the phrase, ‘no fluke‘ after Southampton’s shock victory over Arsenal in the FA Cup. We also looked at the phrase, ‘luck of the draw‘. Can you think of any other words or phrases that are linked to these phrases? How about in another language that you know?
Now, we have opened a new post on our forum where you can find out more about this expression (no fluke) and you can also practise using this phrase there.
Stinger: You are listening to Languagecaster.com (Learn English Through Football Podcast) (from an Arsenal fan)
DF: That’s it for this week’s football expression – no fluke. We’ll be back with our weekly podcast with more football language at the weekend. Enjoy the football this week – it’s the first legs of the quarter finals of the Champions League. PSG versus Liverpool and Bayern Munich against Real Madrid are the big ties! We’ll see you soon. Bye bye!
Related Links
Learn English Through Football Podcast: A show for football fans to improve their English language skills
