Why do Americans call it soccer? Thank the Brits

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 Why do Americans call it soccer? Thank the Brits

Football Association 1863 Minute Book

The Football Association’s original 1863 minute book. Jan Kruger/Getty Images

The origins of the word “soccer” aren’t as black and white as the ball might suggest. For starters, it’s not even an American invention. Per Britannica:

  • England’s Football Association formalized the rules for modern-day soccer back in 1863.
  • But rugby football was also a thing back then.
  • To distinguish between the two, some Brits called rugby football “rugger” and the Football Association sport “assoccer,” which got shortened to soccer.

Rugby football eventually joined Madonna territory and became simply rugby, while the no-hands sport exclusively became known as football.

Things played out differently on our side of the pond, where a new sport, gridiron football, got abbreviated to just football, and the soccer moniker caught on for the other sport. In fact, the word soccer is also used in other countries besides the US, like Canada and Australia, where multiple versions of football are still played

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