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by dontaskme on October 29th, 2004

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Why do Americans call soccer (a sport played with foot) "soccer" while calling football (a sport played with the hands) "football"?

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  • by lookslikemike on December 10th, 2004

    lookslikemike

    Simply enough, all of these games are called "football", or were to begin with. Over the course of time, different rule specifications effectively made them different sports. So, different types of football became soccer (association football rules), rugby (rugby football rules) etc.

    The American game was more or less derived from rugby, and there are small similarities with the variety of rugby known as Rugby League, most notably the concept of a certain number of completed tackles (downs) to advance the ball, after which possession is turned over if no score results. The kicking element was originally much more common in the American game, with the concept of kicked goals from open play similar to dropped goals in rugby. The development of the forward pass pushed the kicking game to one side, as a thrown ball can be controlled much more accurately than a kicked one, and possession more safely retained.

    As for the name, in common with most varieties, it's just known as football to its own players, and American football to those who wish to distinguish it from other forms. In Ireland, the word football is generally used to refer to Gaelic football, an indigenous game with similarities to both soccer and rugby (round ball, but handling allowed). Similarly, Australian football (known sometimes as Australian Rules football) is simply referred to as football or footy in Australia. In England, football refers to soccer, unless otherwise specified.

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