route one football

noun

A tactic involving kicking the ball from defence high and far straight towards the attackers.

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Meanings

nounroute one football (uncountable)
  1. uncountableball gamesA tactic involving kicking the ball from defence high and far straight towards the attackers.

    It was route one football from Wigan with Rodallega latching onto Al Habsi's long clearance after it was misjudged by Aaron Hughes.

    2011 January 15, Nabil Hassan, “Wigan 1 - 1 Fulham”, in BBC

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
long ball

Origin

Linked by some sources to the 1966-1972 BBC quiz show Quiz Ball, in which players could choose one of several "routes" of football-related questions to reach the goal. "Route 1" was the most direct, where players only needed to answer one question to get directly to the goal.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Polish route one football
  • route one footballTranslations
Spanish patapum parriba
  • patapum parribaTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

route one football. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/route%20one%20football

MLA

“route one football.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/route%20one%20football. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “route one football,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/route%20one%20football.

Source: route one football on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.