Park the Bus

The origin of the phrase was captured for posterity in Henry Winter’s English Premier League match report of Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur, published in The Telegraph, 20 September 2004:

A derby that used to arouse so much passion, with fans choking on the cordite unleashed by tough guys like Chopper Harris and Dave Mackay, yesterday produced only the dampest of damp squibs. Even with six Londoners starting and significant Premiership positions at stake, the only real fire came from Chelsea's manager, José Mourinho, who afterwards castigated Spurs for daring to defend brilliantly.

Instead of taking Spurs' cautious, counter-attacking approach as a compliment to his much-praised Chelsea hosts, Mourinho went on the offensive.

‘Tottenham might as well have put the team bus in front of their goal.’

‘Sometimes when you are a big club, a very small club comes to your stadium. Tottenham got a point they shouldn’t.’

‘We wanted to play. They didn’t. We wanted to score. They didn’t. Every time they just kicked the ball away.’

‘It is frustrating for me, my players, for every Chelsea supporter and for every football supporter. Because people don’t pay to see one team play and the other team falling down, demanding to see the medical department.’

A graphic and defining example of the damage to soccer’s marketable value.

Mourinho damned Tottenham as a ‘very small club’ by failing to engage Chelsea in a contest to win the game. Tottenham’s tawdry, time-wasting tactics betrayed a smallness of stature and courage, as Spurs played to not lose.

Tottenham’s unmerited reward of a point heaped injustice on Mourinho’s smouldering, contemptuous rage.

And so, Park the Bus entered football’s vernacular in September 2004, courtesy of José Mourinho.