Not all football clubs have mottos. There are more than a few that either don’t have one or that only have English mottos, such as Liverpool’s ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’. For the teams that do have a motto, it is always interesting to find out where they came from and what they mean. In the case of Tottenham Hotspur, the club’s motto is the Latin phrase ‘Audere est Facere’, which translates as ‘To Dare Is to Do’. It has been associated with Spurs since the late 19th century, but the question is how did it come to be associated with Tottenham and why have they kept it ever since its first use?
The Motto’s Origins
If you want to get a sense of where Tottenham Hotspur’s motto comes from, it is best to look back to the 19th century. Whilst Latin is obviously a dead language and not something that modern football supporters have a lot of time for, the same can’t be true of the more formative years of the club’s existence. In fact, at the time that the Audere est Facere motto was brought in, the use of a Latin signature actually gave a sense of status to a football club. Similarly, it meant that the club boasted a degree of quality, which is why you can often find such Latin mottos associated with sides.
From Tottenham’s point of view, it is a motto that also represents the club’s on-field ambitions. To dare is to do is an approach that the players have been asked to take every time they’ve pulled on the kit and taken to the pitch to represent the supporters. As some supporters might say, it shows that the club is about demonstrating ambition rather than ‘shooting the opposition’ with a cannon, as their North London rivals Arsenal might opt to do. The motto appeared on the Tottenham Hotspur badge for the first time in 1983, but has been associated with the club since long before then.
A Way of Playing
Tottenham Hotspur supporters don’t just think of Audere est Facere as the club’s motto. Instead, many of them believe that it reflects the way in which the football club should play its matches, being brave in possession and willing to take the fight to the opposition. When managers, such as Nuno Espírito Santo arrived at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, opting to play defensively minded football that looked at not losing before trying to win, many of the fans of the club didn’t like it. They had grown up watching the likes of Juande Ramos and Harry Redknapp playing attacking football.
Whilst opposition fans might like to laugh at Spurs, Arsenal supporters in particular, those that cheer on the club are happy that the type of football that is played at the ground is one that is attractive and fun to watch. That is summed by the ‘to dare is to do’ attitude that the motto promises and that fans expect to see from their players. Although no supporters were in the ground to see it because of the global health crisis at the time, the bold goal scored by Tanguy Ndombele in the January of 2021 was seen as a neat summary of that daring attitude that Spurs supporters want to see.