Why Soccer Is the Term Used for Football in the US and Canada
For millions globally, football is a beloved sport. Yet in the United States and Canada, it's commonly called soccer. This difference often puzzles fans from other countries.
Historical Background
Stefan Szymanski, an emeritus professor at the University of Michigan who grew up in England during the 1960s and 1970s, found the football versus soccer debate unusual. He recalls that during his youth, the term soccer was widely accepted and not controversial.
"I started asking my friends: Do you remember? Maybe it’s a false memory. Was it ever a problem? The consensus was that in the 1970s there didn’t seem to be any issue with that word," Szymanski said.
His curiosity led him to research the history of the terms. Back in 1863, football was considered a sport for the upper class. The founders of the Football Association in England were Oxford graduates from elite public schools. The official name was association football, which distinguished it from rugby football.
From Association Football to Soccer
In the late 19th century, wealthy university students in England developed a slang habit of shortening words and adding "-er." For example, breakfast became brekker, and rugby turned into rugger.
The theory goes that these students took "soc" from the middle of association and added "-er," creating soccer. Though no one can say with certainty, numerous documents trace the term back to Oxford students.
The Spread of the Term Soccer
Historian Andy Mitchell identified early printed examples of the word soccer or socker in school magazines from 1885. It’s likely that the term was already spoken and appeared in print before then.
Over time, the variant "socker" disappeared while soccer remained popular. As the sport spread worldwide, so did the word. Today, countries like Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Canada often use soccer.
Why Soccer in the US?
In the United States, the word football usually refers to American football, a sport that evolved from rugby but shares some similarities with soccer. Both sports emerged around the same time, in the late 1800s.
Szymanski explains that because American football and soccer are related, the word soccer stuck in the US to differentiate between the two.
British Usage Over Time
Although British newspapers preferred the term football, they continued to use soccer well into the 1980s. Gradually, football became the dominant word in the UK.
When teaching, Szymanski notices Americans often apologize when using soccer, assuming the British might find it offensive. He reassures them that soccer is originally an English word and they are welcome to use it.
