The 15 football phrases recently added to the Oxford dictionary

A handful of footballing phrases have been added to the Oxford English dictionary as part of its quarterly update, including some iconic phrases from Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho.

15 football-related terms have been added in total, with Ferguson's infamous 'squeaky bum time' and Mourinho's defensive tactic of 'parking the bus' among them.

Ferguson, who managed Manchester United between 1986 and 2013, originally coined the phrase 'squeaky bum time' back in 2003 when discussing Arsenal's end to the season, with the Gunners rivalling the Red Devils for the Premier League title.

Meanwhile, Mourinho, who has taken charge of several top European clubs including Real Madrid, United, Chelsea, Tottenham and Inter Milan, became renowned for his tactical defensive set-up where he would 'park the bus'.

In actual fact, the Portuguese manager initially used the phrase to criticise Tottenham's playing style against Chelsea in the 2004/05 campaign.

In the latest edition of the dictionary, 'squeaky bum time' has been defined as: 'A particularly tense period of time, esp. one leading up to the climax of a competition or event.'

'Park the bus', meanwhile, is outlined as: 'To play in a very defensive way, typically by having the majority of outfield players close to their own goal and showing little attacking intent.'

The 13 other phrases associated with football that have been added to the dictionary are: Cruyff turn, Rabona, Panenka, total football, Gegenpressing, tiki-taka, false nine, row Z, top-scoring, outfield, over the top, Trequartista and zonal marking.

Interestingly Geegnpressing, which derives from the German word for 'counter-pressing' has also made its way onto the list following the influence of German tactics on the Premier League, introduced by the likes of Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel.

It is defined as: 'A style of play in which a team upon losing possession puts immediate and intensive pressure on the opposition, even deep in the opposition's half, in an attempt to regain the ball at the earliest opportunity, prevent the opposing team from capitalising on possession, and force mistakes in dangerous positions.'

Topics: Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho, Football, Premier League

Joe Adams

Joe is a Journalist for SPORTbible with a primary focus on football. He has previously covered a number of other sports including boxing, rugby and F1. Wishes he was born left-footed.

@joeadamsjourno