On September 19, 2004, Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea faced Tottenham at Stamford Bridge. The game ended in a 0-0 draw and Mourinho was none too happy with what he saw as Spurs’ refusal to even try to get forward as they packed their own box with defenders. “Tottenham might as well have put the team bus in front of their goal,” he said. Thus was born the term — if not the actual tactic — of parking the bus.
The idea of playing defensive soccer obviously dates back much further than the turn of this century, but given that early iterations of the game often involved as many as five, six or even seven attackers, it was a style of play that definitely had to come into its own.