Who Invented Soccer? Do You Mean the Game - Or the Word?

Ready for a surprise? English are the ones who invented soccer.

Both - the game and the word (that's the surprising part).

Yes, I am not making this up. I know, you probably assumed like most people that "soccer" is an American word. I did. Until my son asked me who created the word: soccer, because his PE teacher told him it is an English word. I was sure the teacher was wrong, but I didn't want to compromise his authority and ruin my status of super soccer dad, so just in case the teacher was right, I told my son that I'd look into it. The teacher...you guessed it...was absolutely correct.

"Soccer" is an English word invented by students from Oxford. It is a derivative of the word 'association'.

How is this possible? How did it happen?

Actually it's very interesting, so let's go back in time to see how it all started.

No, not to ancient times, even though there were some forms of a 'kicking' games being played back then. I don't consider this however, as an invention, rather an origin of soccer.

Dribbling Game

In the early 1800s, a number of versions of football were being played in private schools throughout England . Soon the game was adopted by many public schools. The ball games weren't called neither football nor soccer yet, but 'dribbling game' and it was nothing like the game we all know now. Kicking the ball was the main technique to play the game, but use of hands was allowed to stop or catch the ball in the mid-air. No one was allowed to pick up the ball with their hands and run with it.

Rugby Football

It all changed when during the 'dribbling game' one of the student from a public school of Rugby grabbed the ball and ran with it over the goal line. The goal was disallowed but many people picked up on the idea and formed a new game, you guessed it, 'rugby football'.

The popularity of dribbling games and rugby spread throughout the country. New clubs and teams were formed, distinct from schools and universities.

Association Football

There was a big desire of teams to play each other, unfortunately schools and clubs had a hard time agreeing on the same rules. After many failed attempts to unify the rules of the game, in 1863 several teams and clubs came to agreement and formed the Football Association with one set of rules. Sort of a mix of 'dribbling games' and 'rugby'. The game was called 'association football'.

That's where we come to the part of who invented soccer, the word.

English students used to like to nickname and abbreviate words. Also they had the tendency to add an "er" to the end of many words. For example, instead of "breakfast" they would say - "breaker", rugby was "rugger".

The name "association football" was way too long for them, therefore they called it "assoc" which soon evolved to the name "soccer".

And so, the word "soccer" was used in England since the mid-19th century. Most people however, used more frequently the word "football", which was more descriptive of the new sport, although at that time the game of football was still far from the game we play today.

Soccer reached the world

Association football or simply football or soccer was exported by British workers, students, and soldiers all over the world, where the game and the names were adopted pretty quick. Some countries modified the rules of association football to give the beginnings of the new type of football. American football, Canadian football, Australian Rules, Rugby League just to name few, they all evolved from association football, therefore soccer.

Today word "soccer" is most commonly used in the US, Canada and Australia in order to keep a distinction from their own football games. Everywhere else people use the term "football", including those who invented soccer, the game...and the word.

If you think this was interesting and valuable to you, don't wait and check out My Youth Soccer Guide for more facts about soccer history, as well as other useful soccer information.

Adrian Gumowski is a passionate expert on soccer gained from 30 years playing, coaching kids, and developing a web site all about soccer, including soccer history at http://www.my-youth-soccer-guide.com/soccer-history.html

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