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by england on July 28th, 2006

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Why is football called soccer in America?

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  • by Quackers on February 18th, 2008

    Quackers

    This seems to really get under the skin of a lot of British to the point where I don't get why none of them ever bother to look it up. The term "soccer" is of British origin NOT American. It's an English slang term from the early twentieth century. It is short for "Association Football" aka what is now called simply "football" in Britain ("soccer" meaning "association"). So many English, Scot and Irish rag on about Americans making up the "improper" word 'soccer' without ever realizing it's their own damn word. It's a little irritating to be honest.

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  • by CannedHam on February 13th, 2007

    CannedHam

    The answer to the first question comes from www.tetrabrazil.com:
    -------------------------
    ”With the advent of a national association in England, any soccer played under its jurisdiction was called association football. As time passed the word association was abbreviated to assoc., which eventually gave way to the word soccer, the game's common name in North America.”

    The reason football dominates American college games is found at http://www.soccer-for-parents.com/us-soccer-history.html:
    ------------------------------------

    "The College Era, and Rules Consolidation, 1862-1875
    Collegiate play resumed on a regular basis after the Civil War. Rules varied widely among different schools and communities; Princeton played with 25 players, some people even played a game with innings, with a victory going to the first team to score a fixed number of goals (a la volleyball). In 1866, Beadle & Company of New York published a set of rules for both Association Football (soccer) and the "Handling game" (Rugby). The first intercollegiate game using rules resembling modern game was played on November 7, 1869 in New Brunswick, NJ between Princeton and Rutgers (Rutgers won 6-4). This game used the London Football Association's 1863 rules which called for, among other things, 25 players, a field 110 meters x 70 meters, a 24 foot wide goal, movement of the ball allowed with all parts of the body (including hands, ball could be batted or held, but not carried or thrown). First team to score 6 points won. Interestingly, this same game is also generally recognized as the first GRIDIRON FOOTBALL game as well.

    Soccer was also taken up at this time by Yale, Columbia and Cornell, and reintroduced to Harvard in 1871 in a hybrid form known as the Boston Game, a version which also allowed the throwing and carrying of the ball. At this time, football was still played by a number of different and conflicting rules. In 1873, inspired by the English Football Association's rules unification, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, and Rutgers met in New York to draw up a uniform set of rules based on the London 1863 rules. They established 20 players on a team, a field measuring 400 feet x 250 feet, 25-foot wide goal, 6 goals to win, and a point scored by passing the goal past the goal posts. Carrying the ball was prohibited. Shortly after the first game under these rules, a Yale victory over Princeton, an English team, the Eton Players visited New Haven and played Yale, to whom they lost 1-2, in the first Anglo-American international match. Yale was persuaded to adopt the English custom of 11 players to a side, and subsequently argued for its universal adoption, which was generally achieved by 1880.

    Meanwhile, Harvard had become more interested in the Rugby form of the game, and looked for competition against similarly oriented teams. When they happened upon McGill University of Montreal, who had also adopted those rules, the two teams played the first intercollegiate rugby match in 1874. The second of these games was played with an oval ball under English Rugby Association rules, and marks the evolution of soccer into the modern gridiron game. A fateful event which would forever change the fortunes of American soccer took place in 1875 when Yale Harvard and bridged the game gap to play a match under special concessionary rules, which included both goals and tries (later touchdowns), and a 15 man roster. Harvard won 4 goals to none and 4 tries to none. Yale reassessed their position after this humiliation, and decided to adopt the Rugby code. Princeton, (who had watched the game as observers) were impressed enough to follow suit. In 1876, Harvard, Princeton and Columbia formed the Intercollegiate Football Association using Rugby rules. Stevens, Wesleyan and Penn soon followed, and the end of 1876 had signed the death knell signed for collegiate soccer in the US."

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  • by yoho05 reminds you to DYOH on July 28th, 2006

    yoho05 reminds you to DYOH

    Dear Word Detective: I would be interested to learn the origins of the word "soccer." As a Brit currently living in the US, I am often dismayed to hear the term used to describe a sport that I, and many of my countrymen, have always known as "football." Is usage of the word "soccer" within the US simply a way of distinguishing the "beautiful game" from the altogether less appropriately-named sport of American Football (which, to my understanding, is played almost exclusively with one's hands)? -- Pete Collins, via the internet.

    You know, as much as I like this question, I can't quite get over the feeling that I'm being set up. After all, I live about 35 miles from Columbus, Ohio, home of the OSU Buckeyes football team, and people around here are bananas (to put it politely) about football. Skeptics on the subject of Buckeye supremacy have, in fact, been known to disappear without a trace along with their household pets. But what the heck, since I've never had the sense God gave cole slaw, I'll stick my neck out and agree that "soccer" is a far more intelligent, skillful and interesting game.

    It's true that the game known as "football" in most of the world (not just the UK) is known as "soccer" in the US, but we didn't just pull the word out of the air so that we could call our quasi-gladiatorial extravaganzas "football." In fact, you Brits actually invented the word. "Soccer," when it first appeared in the 1890s, was spelled "socca," which was short for "association" or "association football," meaning football played according to the rules laid down by the British Football Association. It was also called "socker" until the current form "soccer" appeared around 1895.

    The "er" suffix of "soccer," incidentally, was often used in late 19th and early 20th century slang, and can also be found in the transformation of the name of the British game "rugby" (named after the Rugby School in England) into the popular term "rugger." Rugby, incidentally, is a sport similar to American football, but played without the helmets and elaborate padding used in American stadiums.

    from The Word Detective's website

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  • by --paw43--is back for now on March 6th, 2009

    --paw43--is back for now

    Because in the UK it's the only football they play, where as in Ireland we have Gaelic football,America has American football and Australia has Australian rules football,so we differentiate the footballs by calling what the UK calls football soccer!Except Rugby which is known as rugby football!

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  • by Gamer88 on December 9th, 2007

    Gamer88

    It's not, it's called football. Why is soccer called football outside of America? lol

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  • by Im Alec has abandoned this account on March 6th, 2009

    Im Alec has abandoned this account

    Because the name "soccer" is derived from "Association Football", shortened to "Assoc" and then simplified to soccer. The name was intended to differentiate it from other forms of football, such as Rugby Football. But nonetheless, formally speaking soccer is "just" a form of football.

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  • by Anonymous on March 6th, 2009

    Anonymous

    Coz its called Football in england (Im English)

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  • by Countess Crapula on March 6th, 2009

    Countess Crapula

    Because in other countries it is. You play it with your foot. God, read a paper.

    What kills me is that you play american football with your hands...that makes no sense. You hardly every kick the ball unless it's kickoff or field goal.

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  • by Ankith on March 6th, 2009

    Ankith

    cuz it is called so everywhere except in USA...

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  • by Shelby on December 9th, 2007

    Shelby

    Because we already HAVE a sport called football in North America.

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  • by ifknheartsublime on July 28th, 2006

    ifknheartsublime

    Oh,
    well don't i feel like a ditzy blonde now.
    I heard something about why America is the exact opposite of England though.
    I think the people that settled here way back in the day where so tired of England that they completely rebelled against its custom and created their own. Not very creatively though.
    But thats the best I know.

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  • by abby_thats my name.18 on March 6th, 2009

    abby_thats my name.18

    european people call it foot ball, and its probably called that because its a friggin ball being kicked by a friggin foot...duh!

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  • by KingLeonidas on March 6th, 2009

    KingLeonidas

    Cause we're not all dumb americans. FOOTball its in the name. American football and you's use your hands what that all about.

    P.S. Nice avatar

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  • by JuJubee is wearing a COAT of chocolate on March 6th, 2009

    JuJubee is wearing a COAT of chocolate

    People from different countries call it something different! : O )

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  • by dr asif bly on March 6th, 2009

    dr asif bly

    oh my god.i think too.5

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  • by DashingPrince on September 8th, 2008

    DashingPrince

    Football was one of the first sports played in the USA. However americans wanted to show their independence from Britain and so decided not to play any popular British sports. Baseball maybe British but was designed as a children's sport and not to be played by adults and thus has never been regarded as an adult sport in Britain.

    Traditionally american "jocks" have made hating football one of their most popular pastimes. In the USA they have even created anti football websites paid for by american sports coaches to deter young americans from playing football.

    Football was termed a communist sport by these "jocks" as another attempt to try to deter other americans from watching or playing football.

    However in the 1990's america had it's first world cup and football has grown and grown ever since. Even with almost professional anti football journalists, coaches, radio presenters the sport of football has become the most played sport in america along with basketball, overtaking baseball, gridiron and ice hockey.

    Football may well be played by millions of americans but has still very few spectators. This mainly due to the USA inability to produce top quality footballers. The standard of footballers in the USA is increasing but as of yet the USA has never produced a world class footballer.

    I guess the question that has to be asked is why has america never produced quality footballers?

    Most probably because american sports are one dimensional, meaning a player only has to learn one skill to be good at a professional level. Whereas in football you need to be a complete athlete and have high levels of technique and creativity.

    American sporting culture has sadly been dominated by steroids for the last 20 years, whereas in football steroids would give a player no advantage at all. So americans will have to change their whole sports culture in order to gain respect as a footballing nation.

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  • by redb_ball is away on August 9th, 2006

    redb_ball is away

    because Americans have to be different then the rest of the world- take the metric system for instance...

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  • by RFlagg on August 9th, 2006

    RFlagg

    To put it simply, because Americans already have a game called football.

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  • by SPARKLiE63 on July 28th, 2006

    SPARKLiE63

    Because football is the same thing in America than other countries and we made the name up for SOCCER so it would be different.

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  • by england on July 28th, 2006

    england

    american football

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  • by pirlo21 on April 16th, 2012

    pirlo21

    Cause their idiots!

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  • by ifknheartsublime on July 28th, 2006

    ifknheartsublime

    How about this, what do you call american football in england?

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  • by larry.ciriaco on April 16th, 2012

    larry.ciriaco

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  • by DashingPrince on September 8th, 2008

    DashingPrince

    American football is known as "gridiron" outside of america.

    Some people refer to gridiron as a "steroid sport" although this include baseball aswell.

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  • by -O-uknow on April 16th, 2012

    -O-uknow

    We have our own version that is a brutal contact sport requiring body armor.

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  • by Football_Fanatic on July 19th, 2010

    Football_Fanatic

    It's called soccer in America because the yanks like to change everything. "American Football" (It should be called that) can date back to the late 19th Century. Football can date back to the mid 19th Century. Sorry if I don't make any sense here, but you would think that, having an already established sport in Europe called Football, the Americans might have come up with ingenious idea of calling their own version something different, instead of changing the name of an already established sport. Football, known as soccer in the US, is called Football by everyone but the US and Australia. 350 million to 5 billion +. Simply, america, call your sport "American Football" and there would be no problems. But of course you won't, because incredibly frustrating.

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  • by Koffiigames on November 25th, 2008

    Koffiigames

    Because every country has their own language, their own games, their own traditions.
    If an American ask the same question to another country person may be the question is, " Why Soccer is called Football everywhere else than America."

    Football Game: http://www.koffii.com/GameDescription.aspx?gameId=658

    Soccer Game: http://www.koffii.com/GameDescription.aspx?gameId=461

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  • by meami1234 on November 25th, 2008

    meami1234

    In America and Australia it's called Soccer. Here, we have our own football, it's called the Australian Football League, and it seems really pussy to Americans because their football is all eggheads ramming each other and it looks tough. Soccer seems pussy to us because you could snap the players like a twig and they look like pussys chasing the ball. We have a good-ly balanced sport.

    So, three different kinds of 'football'. Ours is the only real one, and the only good one :)

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  • by BlowMyMind on September 14th, 2008

    BlowMyMind

    Not only in America.We call it soccer in South Africa, but Fifa also accepts it as such.That's why they have a Soccerex (for soccer expo)

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  • by NeverWas on September 14th, 2008

    NeverWas

    Because it is cumbersome to say 'American football' every time, so we picked up a British slang term to describe that silly sport we don't play where every other game is a tie.

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More Questions. Additional questions in this category.

You're reading Why is football called soccer in America? - which can also be phrased in the following ways:

  • I'm American. Why do we call football, soccer? I don't even get why its called soccer! It doesn't make sense to me. Where did that name come from? American football(throwing a pigskin ball around) should be called soccer!
  • Why is football called soccer in America
  • Why do people think that soccer is called football?
  • Most people in the world call it "football". Where does the word "soccer" come from?

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