When is a volley not a volley?

As part of my daily commute, I've found several new podcasts in recent months, so the packed cattle express of the 0712 to Waterloo can pass by that little bit quicker. With teutonic regularity, I wake every morning to find a BBC 5 Live daily podcast, essentially a summary of the previous evening's football.

Along came Monday, and a review of the Sunday fixtures. Alas the podcast was only seven minutes long (barely made it to the station), but I heard a peach from pundit Danny Mills after the Manchester City vs Liverpool match. He referred to a splendid volley by Steven Gerrard for Liverpool's second goal.

Gerrard's 'volley' (let it load first)

Now, despite my age (32), I like to think of myself as old school. I like retro shirts, the idea of standing at a match, and the days of flamboyant pop stars owning Hertfordshire football clubs. But am I that out of touch with the kids of today, so much that I didn't even think of Gerrard's goal as a volley?

Gerrard's 'volley' video

I learned the game on the (ahem) tough streets of North London, where Headers & Volleys was the general game of choice. Stick the fat kid in goal, and everyone would try and tee each other up to score with either a header or a volley. Simple. The game policed itself, a volley would have to be struck first time, no contact with the ground since leaving the teammate's foot, lest the chants of 'cheat' ring through the Elthorne Estate.

So why has the term volley become so loose? From recent memory, it seems any goal struck first time or hit with power can apply. Has the player chested it down? Meh, volley. Did it bounce first? Volley. NO!!!

Tony Yeboah's goal against Liverpool was a volley. Marco van Basten's goal against the Soviet Union was a volley. Paul Scholes at Bradford was a volley. Any excuse to see them again really...

 Yeboah v Liverpool

Van Basten v USSR

Scholes v Bradford

Finally, I've been accused several times of an anti-Liverpool bias on this blog. It's not really true, and I have several close family members who support them. But even the most die-hard Mickey Mouser will admit that Gerrard's goal, while very good, was not a volley. Plus I only put Yeboah's goal against Liverpool in because it was a good example. I hate Leeds as well.

PS I tweeted yesterday that it was Graeme Le Saux who said the offending comment about volley, when it was definitely Danny Mills. Who did this against Ashley Cole. So he's not all bad...