Football Facts & RulesBy Tochukwu Mesigo

Why Fans Call It Football or Soccer

Same sport, two names. 'Football' and 'soccer' both come from England — and the word Americans use was actually invented by British university students.

To a British fan, the sport is football, full stop. To an American, it is soccer. Both sides have argued about it for decades, and both are using the same word — because 'soccer' was coined in England, not America, and was in everyday use there long before it crossed the Atlantic.

The Name Came From the Rules

In the 1860s, as different versions of football were being standardised in English public schools, the two dominant codes were distinguished by their governing bodies. The game played under Football Association rules was officially called association football, while the rival code, played under the rules of the Rugby Football Union, was rugby football — or simply 'rugger'.

The Oxford Slang That Made 'Soccer'

Around 1875, university students in Oxford and Cambridge developed a playful slang habit of adding '-er' to words. 'Association football' became assoccer, shortened to soccer. The earliest recorded spellings ran from 'socca' in 1889 and 'socker' in 1891 to the modern 'soccer' by 1895. The same slang produced 'rugger' for rugby — which is still used today — and oddities like 'footer' for association football.

The word 'soccer' was never American slang. It was British university slang that spread through the British press, and it was used interchangeably with 'football' in England well into the twentieth century.

Why America Kept 'Soccer'

When association football spread to the United States around the early 1900s, Americans already had a sport called football: American football, which had evolved from rugby. To avoid confusion, the version played with the round ball was branded 'soccer' — the English word that distinguished it from gridiron.

Then a second factor locked the name in. In the 1960s and 70s, the sport's professional league in America adopted 'soccer' as its official identity — the North American Soccer League, then Major League Soccer. The word became part of the sport's American brand, and despite periodic campaigns to call it football, 'soccer' remains the standard in the United States, Canada, Australia and South Africa.

A World Divided

Today the usage looks like this:

The Great Debate of the 2000s

In the 2000s, 'soccer' became a fighting word. English fans accused Americans of 'stealing' the name of their sport, while American fans pointed out — correctly — that the word was invented in Britain. The FA's own history confirms that 'soccer' was English slang long before it was American, and even FIFA's official name for the sport is 'association football'.

If there is a football lesson in the argument, it is this: football's rules were standardised in England, but its language is global. For more on how the modern game took shape, see the origin of the offside rule and the history of the red and yellow cards.

Last updated: August 2026 | By Tochukwu Mesigo | Category: Football Facts & Rules