Why Is Football Called Soccer?

English is the most widely spoken language in the world. However, the globe is divided into two: one half uses British English and the other half uses American English.

The differences are quite pronounced, however, there is also a constant rivalry between the aforementioned two nations on what to call the most popular sport in the world.

The British call it Football, while Americans call it Soccer.

With this arises the question, why is Football called Soccer in America?

Contrary to popular belief, the word Soccer originated in Britain, not America. 

In 2014, Stefan Szymanski, a sports professor at the University of Michigan, wrote a paper that stated that the term "soccer" was first used to distinguish between different variations of the game in England in the late 19th century when there were no established regulations for the game. 

Let's Dive Into The History Of Football.

People have been playing football for centuries. However, modern-day football is believed to have its origins in Great Britain over two centuries ago.

In the 1800s, England started playing Rugby and football as different versions of the same sport with different rules. In order for aristocratic boys from various schools to compete against one another, the Football Association was established in 1863. 

After the formation of the Football Association, the two variants were given different names and set of rules. One was called Rugby Football and the other was called Association Football. 

From there came two abbreviations of the two games. Rugby football was shortened to “rugger” and association football came to be known as “assoc.”

The latter nickname was then twisted into another name called, “socca.” From there on, it came to be known as, what we (especially the Americans) know today as, “soccer.”

Also Read | A more detailed history of Football. 

Even though the term soccer originated in Great Britain, it never became a common name for the Association Football.

Rugby Football became widely known as “Rugby” and Association Football remained simply “Football.” 

As the two sports gained popularity, they traveled across the Atlantic and eventually reached  America in the 19th century. 

In America, the two sports merged into one sport, which took elements from each. It quickly became more well-liked than either of them. 

The sport was given the name “Gridiron football.” However, the name was quite uncommon and did not roll off the tongue easily, so Americans never bothered with the first name and Gridiron Football simply came to be known as Football. 

In order to differentiate Gridiron football from American Association Football, the latter adopted the less recognized abbreviation “Soccer,” and since then Football and Soccer have had different usage and refer to different sports in America. 

However, the word “Soccer” is not unique to America. Several countries in the world use the term.

The important thing to note is that these are those countries where football has several versions.

Taking the example of Canada, which has its own version of Gridiron Football. Australia also has its very own variant of Australian football. 

The most intriguing thing about this is that "Soccer" was used in Britain for a significant portion of the 20th century.

"Soccer" and "Football" were "nearly synonymous" in Britain for about two decades. However, in the 1980s the usage of soccer declined in Britain as a result of the term being Americanized. 

There is still confusion and dispute around the globe over the name of the sport. Some argue that football should not be called Soccer, whereas others would disagree with the previous statement. 

However, from a historical and linguistic point of view, calling Football “Soccer” is not wrong.

It is quite interesting that being the more widely used term, Football is often ambiguous, as there are several variants of the sport, and Soccer is more accurate at times.