CALCIO SUPPORTUS DEMANDIT

With a variety of cultures influencing our language, it is from the Germans and Danes that many of our words have evolved. English is mainly regarded as Germanic and not Roman but a number of football words have come from Latin, as the ancient language crept into use following St Augustine's missionary from AD 597.

Football however remained as "football" and not calcio (from the Latin) as it was regarded as a game for the rustics and common folk, those north Europeans.  It was originally not a game played by the academics and wealthy, who were more likely to use Latin, as in the schools where boys were required to speak Latin all the time.

Fot-foot, was Anglo-Saxon, bollr was Old Norse-ball, boti-boot, skit-score, skyrta-shirt and grund-ground all came from similar sources.

Latin has its influence however, such as fixture-fixus meaning held firmly, cup-cuppa meaning tub or vat, medal-metallum meaning metal. League has its root in legare meaning to bind together, Champions comes from campus-a field and trophy from trophaeum.

Soccer will have been chipped out of "associare" meaning, join together and the word soccer is reputedly first used by Charles Wreford Brown, an Old Carthusian, who was Chairman of the FA. Through the late 19th century the game was associated with the Public Schools, universities and militia, hence its gentrification.

These were amateurs (from amat- love of the game), with referees (refere to refer back) sorting out professionals (professus-declared aloud ie their status?) who were less reliable in their behaviour.

The phrase, "bis dat qui cito dat" means "make it count son, shoot early!" and might suit many a "common striker"!

So look at the club crests (crista-plumes) and mottoes (motto-I say) for more inspiration:-

Bournemouth- pulchritudo et salubritas which translates to "for health and beauty"!

Tottenham- audere est facere-"to dare is to do".

Crewe-"iuvare non impedire"-help not hinder.

At Everton, nil satis nisi optimum means "nothing will satisfy except the optimum" or simply only the best will do. This might be thought as a rather moderate approach to a multi million pound business.

Thanks heavens for David Beckham's tattoos which promote the great Latin language- perfectio in spiritu and ut amen et foveam. You look them up. 

Let us be judged by our acts...........by the way, what are the two men doing?