Football vs. Soccer: Why Do Americans Call This Sport Differently?

Stupid Americans, always doing things differently – not using the metric system, measuring temperatures in degrees Fahrenheit, driving mostly automatic cars, calling football football. Well, my fellow Americans…I have some good news for you. For at least one of these things we can blame the British.

While most people around the world call the sport football, the name football, used by Americans, comes directly from Great Britain about 200 years ago. Surprisingly, it was still used interchangeably with football well into the 20th century. It wasn’t until around 1980 that it began to morph exclusively into football, and it is believed that the British only really stopped using the term “soccer” because of its American context. So, they invented it. We kept it. And they abandoned it because we kept it.

Where does the word “football” come from?

Several games involving a ball, whether hitting, kicking, throwing, etc., were often called different forms of “football” in the 1800s. Football as we know it today Today became an official sport in 1863, when several English schools and clubs came together and formed the Football Association establish a standard set of rules. Rugby was then known as “rugby football”, so it was necessary to distinguish the two. So, it became known as the “Football Association” in England.

So how did we move from association football to football? The story is a lot like how animals get their nicknames. They start out as Emmitt Smith Jr., then it becomes Smitty, then Smitten Kitten…you know what I mean. Association football is a long word and people don’t like it. It’s a lot of effort. British players then began calling it “assoc”, which morphed into “assoccer”, then eventually “soccer” or “soccer football”.

We know why the British stopped using the name football. But why did the Americans keep it? In America, other sports began to emerge, one of which adopted the name football (from rugby) and was the most popular sport in the country. So, to distinguish, soccer is related to the sport with the ball you kick, and soccer is related to the sport with the ball you throw.

Where does the word “football” come from?

This begs the question… where did the name come from? soccer so where do you come from? The British like to claim that what Americans call football and what they call American football or gridiron football is meaningless because it is mainly played with the hands. So should we call it handball? Oh wait, that one’s taken too. Then they argue that it should be called a hand egg because the shape is not that of a typical round ball. It hasn’t caught on – at least, not in America. (Fun fact: the people who invented the oval shape of the rugby ball and football were both European!) Rugby, soccer, and American football all originated from the same sport, which was originally a sport that involved a bit more kicking.

Okay, so why didn’t he switch from rugby to American rugby, instead of just football? I cannot answer that. However, A could argue that we call it football because of the length of the ball, which is about a foot. We measure using the imperial system, remember? (Which also started in Britain, but I digress.)

In summary:

Rugby became “rugby” in England.

Association football has become “soccer” in England.

Rugby came to the United States and evolved into another version of the game. This game became “soccer” in the United States and rugby became “rugby.”

Football came to the United States and remained “football.”

Soccer and football were used interchangeably in England until they realized they didn’t want to be associated with Americans and started calling it exclusively “soccer”.

The British now make fun of the Americans for using football.