route-one

From route one football, a very direct association football strategy.

route-one (comparative more route-one, superlative most route-one)

1. Pertaining to route one football.
   • 2012 January 31, Tony Bradman, Under Pressure, Random House, →ISBN, page 202:

     But the Warlington midfield surrounded Ben, making a square ball to Lee on the left his only real option unless he went for a route one hit-and-hope. But Ben just wasn't a route one kind of player

2. (UK, slang) Direct, basic, unsubtle, brute force.
   • 2013 September 13, Bob Stanley, Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop, Faber & Faber, →ISBN, page 9:

     They were blindingly primitive, powered by Clark's anti-jazz drums, relentless two-note saxophone and Mike Smith's raw bellowed vocals. Unlike the early-sixties Spurs team that Clark watched from the terraces, this was route-one stuff.

   • 2019 March 14, Sara Hawys Roberts, Leon Noakes, Withdrawn Traces: Searching for the Truth about Richey Manic, Foreword by Rachel Edwards, Random House, →ISBN:

     It was a calculated route-one strategy, but would it work? If they dragged these unsuspecting punters in with the music, the album's content would certainly make them think.

   • 2020 September 10, Matt Rudd, Man Down: Why Men Are Unhappy and What We Can Do About It, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

     You are less likely to drop dead, because lack of exercise is the second-biggest killer of middle-aged men after smoking. It's all really simple, route-one stuff.