Association Football - Etymology and Names

Etymology and Names

The rules of association football were codified in England by the Football Association in 1863 and the name association football was coined to distinguish the game from the other forms of football played at the time, specifically rugby football. The term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as an Oxford "-er" abbreviation of the word "association".

Within the English-speaking world, association football is now usually called football (colloquially footy or footer and occasionally soccer as used in older generations) in the United Kingdom, and mainly soccer in Canada and the United States. Other countries, such as Australia and New Zealand may use either or both terms, and may also have local names for the sport.

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