QPR Is Moving the Goalposts

Football and English are two international languages that are understood all over the world. This Premier Skills story can help you with both of these world languages.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a football fanatic or you know nothing about the beautiful game—there will be something interesting here for you.

QPR Is Moving the Goalposts

“Moving the goalposts” is a phrase which means changing the rules unfairly. But for Queens Park Rangers， it’s the name of a social inclusion project which provides access to high quality football for a particular group of people.

A bit about QPR

Promoted to the Premier League in 2011， Queen Park Rangers is a London team which everybody refers to as just “QPR”. In addition to playing football， the club does a lot of social work through its foundation， the QPR in the Community Trust. One of the Trust’s many projects is Moving the Goalposts， which aims to help Gypsy， Roma and Traveller （GRT） communities in West London.

Who are the GRT？

The term “Gypsy， Roma and Traveller” refers to communities which tend to move around frequently rather than live in one place. Because of their lifestyle， it’s sometimes difficult for GRT to have regular access to social services such as sports facilities. This is precisely the problem that QPR’s Moving the Goalposts project has been trying to solve since 2006.

So what does the project do？

In partnership with the Football Foundation and local authorities， members of QPR’s staff organise coaching sessions for young GRT， take them to watch professional football games and arrange for them to play matches against other teams. One member of a Travellers’ community got a Football Association coaching qualification and is now working for the QPR in the Community Trust.

Has the project been successful？

According to Jake George from the Ealing local authority， “it was not clear what the potential of football would be for Gypsy， Roma and Traveller young people when we started out. We originally used training sessions as a tool to keep the working relationship going with young people who might otherwise disappear from view. However， over the life of the project， truly unique and meaningful developments between service providers and the GRT communities have been enabled. We now see Moving the Goalposts as one of the most invaluable tools for long term， sustainable benefits”.

And the future？

As Gareth Dixon from QPR’s Trust says， “Hopefully we can now increase the awareness of the problems that young GRT face with the work we are doing and continue to knock down barriers”. Queens Park Rangers moved from one ground to another fourteen times before settling at their present stadium， Loftus Road， in 1920. Maybe that’s why they identify with Travellers！

Activity 1

What do you think？

Do you know of any GRT communities？ What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of a GRT lifestyle？

Is it easy to watch professional football live （not just on television！） where you live？ Does your local team help specific groups of people go to their games？

E-mail us and let us know： premierskills@britishcouncil.org

Activity 2

State which years the following things happened：

1. QPR started playing at their present stadium

2. QPR were promoted from the League Championship

3. The Moving the Goalposts project started

Activity 3

These are some of the phrases used by Jake George and Gareth Dixon：

1. disappear from view

2. sustainable benefits

3. increase the awareness

4. knock down barriers

Now match the phrases with the meanings that they have in the article：

a. positive results which will continue in the future

b. help people to understand better

c. eliminate problems

d. become difficult to contact

Activity 4

Here are six adverbs which appear in the article：

unfairly          frequently      precisely

originally       truly               hopefully

In each of the following sentences， choose the adverb which makes most sense：

1. Moving the Goalposts has been very successful. ______ it will continue to help GRT in the future.

2. GRT in West London ______ participate in coaching sessions given by QPR staff.

3. QPR were ______ from North London but now play in the west of the city.

Activity 5

Find out more.

Use the internet to find out about Gypsy， Roma and Traveller communities in your own country and in other countries.

Find out about their lifestyle and how people react to them.

YOU ARE THE REF

by Keith Hackett and Paul Trevillion

In a fierce derby match， the away team have already had four red cards， and have used all their subs. You award them a last minute penalty.

But as the kick-taker runs up to take the penalty， he twists his ankle and collapses in pain. As a result of his injury， he is taken off on a stretcher and can’t continue. The home captain rushes over and says you must abandon the game immediately， because the away side are now down to six men. What is your decision？

Unfortunately the captain is correct： the match must be abandoned because the player cannot continue and his team has been reduced to six players. If the injury wasn’t so serious， he could be treated on or off the field. When he returned， a colleague could take the kick in his place.

KEY

Activity 2

1. 1920

2. 2011

3. 2006

Activity 3

1. d

2. a

3. b

4. c

Activity 4

1. Hopefully

2. frequently

3. originally