Why Is Soccer Called Soccer? The Story Behind the Name
Why is soccer called soccer? The word comes from "association football": "assoc." was shortened and "-er" added. It was first used in England, in 1885.
Soccer is called soccer because the word was made from “association”, as in association football. Merriam-Webster explains that it was formed by shortening and altering “association football”, keeping the final three letters of “assoc.”, the short form of “association”, and Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries describe it as “Assoc.” shortened with “-er” added on. Merriam-Webster dates the first known use of the word to 1885 and says it was first used in England.
The “association” in that name refers to The Football Association, whose rules were agreed in London in 1863. The sections below explain how the word was formed, where the association came from, and how governing bodies in the United States and Australia used the name.
Where the Word “Soccer” Comes From
The word soccer is a clipped form of a longer name. Two dictionaries describe the same process in slightly different ways.
From “assoc.” to soccer
According to Merriam-Webster, soccer came about through the shortening and alteration of “association football”. Its word history note adds a detail: the word is taken from the last three letters of “assoc.”, the abbreviation for “association”.
Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries give the origin as a shortening of “Assoc.” with the ending “-er” attached. Put together, the two accounts describe the same path: “association football” was cut down to “assoc.”, the “soc” part was kept, and “-er” was added to make soccer.
When and where it started
Merriam-Webster gives 1885 as the first known use of soccer. Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries place the word’s origin in the late nineteenth century, which matches that date. Merriam-Webster also states that the word was first used in England, so it did not begin as an American term.
The name it was shortened from
Merriam-Webster’s note ties the longer name, association football, to 1863, the year the game’s rules were standardised as the Football Association was set up in England. Cambridge Dictionary lists association football as a formal British synonym for soccer.
The Football Association Behind the Name
The “association” that gave soccer its name was set up in London.
The 1863 meeting
On 26 October 1863, club representatives met at the Freemasons’ Tavern on Great Queen Street in London. The FA’s history says the meeting was called “for the purpose of forming an Association with the object of establishing a definite code of rules”.
The FA records that six meetings were held over 44 days, and the Laws were approved at the sixth one, on 8 December 1863. The main sticking point was hacking, meaning kicking an opponent on the leg, and the approved Laws ruled it out.
The first universal Laws
The IFAB, which looks after the Laws of the Game, says England in 1863 is where the first “universal” football Laws were written.
How Governing Bodies Used the Name
Football Australia’s history links the name soccer to telling football codes apart. It notes that association football in Australia was at times called British football or soccer, a name that marked it out from the other codes.
U.S. Soccer’s page on FIFA draws a similar line. When it explains what FIFA was founded to do, it names Association Football as the game to be promoted and contrasts it with American football.
The United States
U.S. Soccer’s official timeline shows its name changing in three steps:
- On 5 April 1913, a meeting in New York founded the United States Football Association.
- In 1945, it took the name U.S. Soccer Football Association.
- In 1974, it became the U.S. Soccer Federation.
The body started with “Football” in its title, added “Soccer” next to it, and in the end kept only “Soccer”.
Australia
The names of Australia’s national governing body show the word coming and going:
- The Commonwealth Football Association was formed on 21 December 1911.
- In 1923, it was renamed the Football Association (Australia).
- The Australian Soccer Federation was formed in 1961 and admitted to FIFA in 1963.
- In 1995, the Australian Soccer Federation changed its name to Soccer Australia.
- On 1 January 2005, the governing body became Football Federation Australia.
“Association” in the Names of Governing Bodies
The word that soccer was built from also survives in the names of the bodies that run and protect the game.
- The Football Association was formed in London in 1863 and approved the first Laws that year.
- FIFA is short for Fédération Internationale de Football Association. It was founded on 21 May 1904 at 229 rue Saint Honoré in Paris by seven national associations: Belgium, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
- The International Football Association Board, known as The IFAB, was founded in 1886 by the four British football associations: The FA, the Scottish FA, the FA of Wales and the Irish FA. FIFA joined it in 1913.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the “soc” in soccer stand for?
It comes from “association”. Merriam-Webster says soccer was formed from the last three letters of “assoc.”, the abbreviation of “association”, and Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries describe it as “Assoc.” shortened with “-er” added.
Is soccer an American word?
No. Merriam-Webster says the word was first used in England, with its first known use in 1885. The name was also used in Australia, where the governing body took the name Soccer Australia in 1995.
When did the U.S. governing body start using the word soccer?
U.S. Soccer’s timeline shows that the United States Football Association became the U.S. Soccer Football Association in 1945. In 1974, it changed its name again, to the U.S. Soccer Federation.
