A game of two names: Historians reveal why America calls the game that the rest of the world calls football 'soccer' - and find the British are to blame

British term that comes from Association Football

Originated in Britain at the end of the nineteenth century

Was commonly used in the UK until around 30 years ago

Experts say naming difference may need to be resolved



The word soccer is actually a British term that comes from Association Football, US historians have found.

They were investigating the history of the word, and the cultural difference behind it.

In fact, the use of the term goes back 200 years, they said.



The word 'soccer' comes from the use of the term 'association football' in Britain and goes back 200 years, they said.

THE HISTORY OF FOOTBALL

According to the Oxford English dictionary the first recorded use of the word 'football' in English was in 1486.

The contemporary history of the world's favourite game spans more than 100 years.

It all began in 1863 in England, when rugby football and association football branched off on their different courses and the Football Association in England was formed - becoming the sport's first governing body. Both codes stemmed from a common root and both have a long and intricately branched ancestral tree.



'Americans have long referred to Association football as 'soccer', to the point where many people believe it is fact a word invented in America,' wrote University of Michigan professor Stefan Szymanski.

'Many seek to associate American use of the word with alleged American imperialism and cultural hegemony.'

The researchers found the word soccer in fact originated in Britain at the end of the nineteenth century, and was commonly used there.

'It appears that as the popularity of soccer has grown in the US, the word has been used less and less.

The paper analysed usage of the two words from 1900, and found British people only stopped using about 30 years ago.



Americans invented their own variant of the game that they simply called 'football' in the early 1900s.



When England won the World Cup in 1966 the use of the term soccer was just beginning to decline in the UK

'Association football' became 'soccer' in America, and what was called 'gridiron' in Britain became simply 'football' in America.

'Since 1980 the usage of the word 'soccer' has declined in British publications, and where it is used, it usually refers to an American context,' the researchers say.

'This decline seems to be a reaction against the increased usage in the US which seems to be associated with the highpoint of the NASL around 1980.'

However, the researchers admit the problem of two names may need to be addressed.