Origin of soccer
Mark Chandler
"football" is obvious, but why do British people sometimes call the game
soccer?
Regards
Mark
Mark Wallace
It's a contraction of 'association'. The Football Association was
established to govern professional football, so the phrase 'association
match' came into use to show the distinction between matches governed by the
FA and those governed by other bodies (like the Sunday League). It soon
became 'soccer match'.
Calling all football games 'soccer' is, therefore, a minor misuse of the
word, but no-one really cares.
--
Mark Wallace
-----------------------------------------------------
For the intelligent approach to nasty humour, visit:
The Anglo-American Humour (humor) Site
http://humorpages.virtualave.net/mainmenu.htm
-----------------------------------------------------
Paul C
wrote:
>Mark Chandler wrote:
>
>> Does anyone know the origin of the word "soccer"? The origin of the
>> word "football" is obvious, but why do British people sometimes call
>> the game soccer?
>
>It's a contraction of 'association'. The Football Association was
>established to govern professional football, so the phrase 'association
>match' came into use to show the distinction between matches governed by the
>FA and those governed by other bodies (like the Sunday League). It soon
>became 'soccer match'.
>Calling all football games 'soccer' is, therefore, a minor misuse of the
>word, but no-one really cares.
Not quite. When the Football Association was formed it was purely
amateur. Association Football was a game played by the public schools
and public school old boys and the formation of the Football
Association had been an attempt to codify the rules of football -
since all public schools and old boy teams played a different version
of the game. A little later another set of rules were codified when
the Rugby Football Union was formed. Just as the public schoolboys
used 'rugger' to describe Rugby Football, they used 'soccer' to
describe Association Football.
--
Paul
Mark Goodge
keyboard and typed:
>Does anyone know the origin of the word "soccer"? The origin of the word
>"football" is obvious, but why do British people sometimes call the game
>soccer?
Actually, it's usually Americans and Australians who call it "soccer",
as they have their own sports that they prefer to call "football"!
But, that aside, the term is of British origin. It comes from Oxford
university slang of the 1930s, which was notable for abbreviating
words and then adding "er" to the end of them. "Football", in this
system, obviously mutates to "footer"; and that, or its variant,
"footy", is still commonly used as well. But there is more than one
form of football. The two most common in Britain are Association
Football, which is the round ball game, and Rugby Football, which is
the oval ball game. So, in the slang usage, these became "soccer
footer" and "rugger footer", or simply just "soccer" and "rugger".
While "rugger" as a term for Rugby Football is now generally confined
to upper class rugby players themselves, "soccer" has become
globalised as a term for Association Football for the reason I
mentioned earlier - the existance of many other sports also called
"football". Most British football fans dislike the term, mainly
because they (mistakenly) see it as an Americanism! We still put up
with it in the alliterative title of Sky Soccer Saturday, though :-)
Mark
--
Currently trying to flog:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3008631920
"Take me or leave me, don't have to believe me"
Mark Goodge
keyboard and typed:
>Mark Chandler wrote:
>
>> Does anyone know the origin of the word "soccer"? The origin of the
>> word "football" is obvious, but why do British people sometimes call
>> the game soccer?
>
>It's a contraction of 'association'. The Football Association was
>established to govern professional football, so the phrase 'association
>match' came into use to show the distinction between matches governed by the
>FA and those governed by other bodies (like the Sunday League). It soon
>became 'soccer match'.
Not quite; all of the round ball games are Association Football. It's
the oval ball games (Rugby, American Football, Aussie no-rules
football, etc) which aren't. The Football Association existed long
before football became a professional sport, and was the first
organisation to draw up the current rules under which the game is
played.
There's another common myth, which is that Rugby Football was intially
a variant of Association Football. In fact, the early forms of
football had no common rules, and different groups (mostly based
around English public schools and univerisities) had their own
preferences. One group, centered around the schools of Cheltenham and
Rugby, preferd a form of the game which allowed handling the ball,
while another group, centred around Eton, Harrow and Westmister,
preferred a version which did not generally allow handling. Both of
these were round ball games, the oval ball had yet to be introduced.
Eventually, a group of players at Cambridge University decided to try
and standardise the rules. Following a series of meetings between the
various schools and football clubs, it became clear that the "Rugby"
group and the "Cambridge" group had too many differences of opinion to
be reconciled, so they went their separate ways. The Rugby group
eventually developed into what became known as the Rugby Football
Union (complete with oval ball), while the Cambridge group formed an
organisation they called the "Football Association". The rest, as they
say, is history.
Mark
--
Currently trying to flog:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3008631920
"Let's see colours that have never been seen"
Einde O'Callaghan
>
> On Thu, 20 Feb 2003 20:18:37 +0100, Mark Wallace put finger to
> keyboard and typed:
>
> >Mark Chandler wrote:
> >
> >> Does anyone know the origin of the word "soccer"? The origin of the
> >> word "football" is obvious, but why do British people sometimes call
> >> the game soccer?
> >
> >It's a contraction of 'association'. The Football Association was
> >established to govern professional football, so the phrase 'association
> >match' came into use to show the distinction between matches governed by the
> >FA and those governed by other bodies (like the Sunday League). It soon
> >became 'soccer match'.
>
> Not quite; all of the round ball games are Association Football. It's
> the oval ball games (Rugby, American Football, Aussie no-rules
> football, etc) which aren't.
Not strictly true. Gaelic football is played with a round ball.
Regards, Einde O'Callaghan
Dave Hillam
00:06:19 GMT MID<3e556b5a...@news.CIS.DFN.DE>:
>A little later another set of rules were codified when
>the Rugby Football Union was formed. Just as the public schoolboys
>used 'rugger' to describe Rugby Football, they used 'soccer' to
>describe Association Football.
I have seen it claimed that the original public school abbreviation
was 'socer' with a soft c, which was misrepresented in print at an
early stage and became 'soccer'.
--
Dave Hillam
"Then old Nobodaddy aloft, Farted & belchd & coughd
And said: I love hanging & drawing & quartering
Every bit as well as war & slaughtering"
Paul C
<ma...@spamblock.good-stuff.co.uk> wrote:
........
>
>There's another common myth, which is that Rugby Football was intially
>a variant of Association Football
....
> The Rugby group
>eventually developed into what became known as the Rugby Football
>Union (complete with oval ball), while the Cambridge group formed an
>organisation they called the "Football Association". The rest, as they
>say, is history.
.
The Football Association was formed in 1863, and amongst its members
was Blackheath. Association football outlawed hacking and the
Blackheath club left the FA because of this. (As someone claimed at
the time: 'if hacking is abolished you will do away with the courage
and pluck of the game, and I will be bound to bring over a lot of
Frenchmen who would beat you with a week's practice')
The 'Rugby' game and laws developed around Blackheath's view of how
football should be played. and the Rugby Football Union of like-minded
clubs was eventually formed in 1871.
Of course the nonsense about rugby football being created when William
Webb Ellis picked up the ball and ran is just that ... nonsense.
--
Paul
Paul C
<ma...@spamblock.good-stuff.co.uk> wrote:
>On Thu, 20 Feb 2003 18:12:36 -0000, Mark Chandler put finger to
>keyboard and typed:
>
>>Does anyone know the origin of the word "soccer"? The origin of the word
>>"football" is obvious, but why do British people sometimes call the game
>>soccer?
>
>Actually, it's usually Americans and Australians who call it "soccer",
>as they have their own sports that they prefer to call "football"!
>
>But, that aside, the term is of British origin. It comes from Oxford
>university slang of the 1930s,
The word's origin is usually attributed to Charles Wreford-Brown at
Oxford University in 1863.
--
Paul
Peter Duncanson
<ma...@spamblock.good-stuff.co.uk> wrote:
>On Thu, 20 Feb 2003 18:12:36 -0000, Mark Chandler put finger to
>keyboard and typed:
>
>>Does anyone know the origin of the word "soccer"? The origin of the word
>>"football" is obvious, but why do British people sometimes call the game
>>soccer?
>
>Actually, it's usually Americans and Australians who call it "soccer",
>as they have their own sports that they prefer to call "football"!
>
>But, that aside, the term is of British origin. It comes from Oxford
>university slang of the 1930s, which was notable for abbreviating
>words and then adding "er" to the end of them. "Football", in this
>system, obviously mutates to "footer"; and that, or its variant,
>"footy", is still commonly used as well. But there is more than one
>form of football. The two most common in Britain are Association
>Football, which is the round ball game, and Rugby Football, which is
>the oval ball game. So, in the slang usage, these became "soccer
>footer" and "rugger footer", or simply just "soccer" and "rugger".
>
Somewhat earlier than the 1930s - from SOED:
Soccer 1891
Rugger 1893
--
Peter Duncanson
UK
(posting from u.c.l.e)
Mark Goodge
keyboard and typed:
>Mark Goodge wrote:
>>
>> On Thu, 20 Feb 2003 20:18:37 +0100, Mark Wallace put finger to
>> keyboard and typed:
>>
>> >Mark Chandler wrote:
>> >
>> >> Does anyone know the origin of the word "soccer"? The origin of the
>> >> word "football" is obvious, but why do British people sometimes call
>> >> the game soccer?
>> >
>> >It's a contraction of 'association'. The Football Association was
>> >established to govern professional football, so the phrase 'association
>> >match' came into use to show the distinction between matches governed by the
>> >FA and those governed by other bodies (like the Sunday League). It soon
>> >became 'soccer match'.
>>
>> Not quite; all of the round ball games are Association Football. It's
>> the oval ball games (Rugby, American Football, Aussie no-rules
>> football, etc) which aren't.
>
>Not strictly true. Gaelic football is played with a round ball.
Good point.
Mark
--
http://www.FridayFun.net - now with added games!
Because every day should be at least partly Friday.
Quote of the moment: "When your thoughts are too expensive to ever want to keep"
Mark Goodge
keyboard and typed:
Sorry, you're right. I was getting the dates mixed up with something
else.
Mark
--
http://www.FridayFun.net - now with added games!
Because every day should be at least partly Friday.
Quote of the moment: "We dream our dreams alone with no resistance"
Mike Stevens
There's an interesting story I came across a while ago when looking at
the web site of Blackheath Football Club (which plays Rugby football).
At the time that the rules of the game(s) were being codified, they were
one of the founder members of the Football Association, in the full
expectation that it would opt for the Rugby form of the rules. When the
vote went against them, they left the FA and helped to found the RFU.
--
Mike Stevens, narrowboat Felis Catus II
Web site www.mike-stevens.co.uk
No man is an island. So is Man.