- Football
- Soccer
- Rugby
- (American) Football
1004 B.C.
- Records go back this far showing signs of games that resemble modern day football, rugby, and soccer.
1825
- An English writer, William Hone, writes about what was then commonly known as "football:"
"The game was this: he who at any time got the ball into his hands, run [sic] with it till overtaken by one of the opposite part; and then, if he could shake himself loose from those on the opposite side who seized him, he run on; if not, he threw the ball from him, unless it was wrested from him by the other party, but no person was allowed to kick it."
- What's important to know here is that there were tons of games called "football." The word itself referred to any sort of game that was played with a ball on foot (for the peasants), as opposed to on horseback (for the upper-class), such as polo.
before 1863
- In England, because there wasn't a set of rules agrees upon, often teams would decide on rules on the field just before they played (i.e. kicking vs. no kicking, using hands vs. no using hands).
- "Football" was brought to the United States, where the "no kicking" form became the most popular and dominant form of football.
1863
- There was a meeting between football teams in England regarding all the variations of football. They decided that the "no kicking" game be called Rugby Football, and the "no hands" game be called Association Football.
shortly after 1863
- During this time in England, it was popular for young men to add "er" onto many words (breakfast= brekkers). Given the length of the names "Rugby Football" and "Association Football," it is hardly surprising that people who played Rugby Football were called "ruggers" and people who played Association Football were called "soccers" (Association = Assoc.= Assocker= soccer).
- Charles Wreford Brown (who went on to become Vice President of the Football Association) was the student who is credited with coining the word "soccer" when asked if he wanted to play “rugger,” he said “No, soccer” - meaning Football Association rules as opposed to Rugby rules.
- Meanwhile in America, despite the fact that there was a distinction between Rugby and Soccer across the Atlantic, they were still playing what was, prior to 1863, known simply as "football," so the name stuck.
- Not only that, but when Association Football, now called "soccer," was brought to America, the name "Soccer" also stuck, especially because they already had their own game called Football.
1881
- The popularity of Rugby in England was significantly less than that of Soccer, which led to the eventual evolution of the names. 1881 was the first time Soccer/Association Football was referred to simply as "Football," after 18 solid years of calling it "soccer."
- Needless to say, this did not affect America's own game called Football, nor the game which they had known for 18 years as "soccer."
Thoughts and conclusions
- A lot of Enligh/non-Americans that I talk to are completely ignorant to the evolution of the words "football" and "soccer." They refuse to believe the facts and completely deny that the word "soccer" came from England.
- American Football (as it is known to those who are not American), is often discredited for being a "sissy sport" and "Start-stop Rugby with padding." For those against padding in dangerous sports, I wonder how you feel about the invention of safety belts and airbags in cars. Sissy cars?
- Personally, I'm not a huge fan of any of these games. However, I would choose watching an (American) Football game over a Rugby game, if only due to the variety of plays. As far as I've seen, Rugby doesn't have a lot of imagination (this might be improved with adding more padding on the head) in terms of forward progress (American Football allows a forward pass).
[sources, in case you think this is a load of crap:
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