up the field

[Kontol]

I hear a commentator say "The defender hoofed the ball up the field", does "up" mean to here?

The defender hoofed the ball to the field.

 

[emsr2d2]

No, of course not. The defender was already on the field, as was the ball. It means probably across the halfway line, possibly from one end of the pitch to the other side of that line.

Do you actually watch professional football? Some of your questions seem to suggest that you read writeups and listen to commentary without actually watching the sport and trying to match the comments to the play.

 

[jutfrank]

It carries a sense of direction. It means 'in a direction towards the opposing team's goal'.

 

[Kontol]

It carries a sense of direction. It means 'in a direction towards the opposing team's goal'.

Can we say "down the field" as well?

 

[Tdol]

Hoofing the ball is old-school football, where people tried to kick it as far as possible out of the penalty area without really caring where it ended up. Modern football with tiki-taka and current blazing counter attacks looks on hoofing the ball as old-school primitive. It is not praise to say that a defender hoofed the ball today.

 

[jutfrank]

Can we say "down the field" as well?

We use both up and down to talk about direction of play. Wingbacks, for example, are expected to get up and down the wings.

 

[Kontol]

We use both up and down to talk about direction of play. Wingbacks, for example, are expected to get up and down the wings.

Can we say "Manchester United are pressing Manchester City high down the putch", for example?

 

[jutfrank]

Can we say "Manchester United are pressing Manchester City high down the putch", for example?

Yes, but with high up the pitch, not down.

Your sentence is from the perspective of United, not City. The press is high up the pitch from United's point of view.

 

[Kontol]

Thank you. Could you give an example when "down" is used?

 

[jutfrank]

You can use down when you want to talk about direction of play, as I've said. The job of a wingback, or a box-to-box midfielder, involves running up and down the pitch.

 

[Kontol]

You can use down when you want to talk about direction of play, as I've said. The job of a wingback, or a box-to-box midfielder, involves running up and down the pitch.

Can I say "Manchester United win a free-kick down the right flank?"

 

[jutfrank]

Manchester United win a free kick on the right flank.

You just need to locate the position of the free kick.

 

[Tdol]

But you can say down if the kick is in the Man Utd part of the pitch. You cannot say it for a kick near the Man City penalty box.