soccer websites?
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- kezza_20
Football was invented before rugby, so I canna see how that happened
- ********0
I guess.... ask the experts...
- kezza_20
a definative answer for those who care:
To love the game of football is to love it's rich history also.
It particularly disturbs me when modern fans of the game less conversed
in this history do not fully understand that the word "soccer" is an
English, _not_ American word derived from the second syllable of the
word "association"."Soccer" was originally called "association football" during the
formation of the Football Association in England in the 1860s. This
was to maintain a distinction from the other football game being
organised in England at the same time based on the handling codes,
whilst Association Football conformed to the dribbling codes. The
other football came to be known as "rugby" football, named after the
Rugby School in England, where it is said that a certain young student,
William Webb Ellis, picked up the ball in his hands during an
association football match and ran with it over the goal line. Master
Ellis asked his teacher, who was refereeing, if that was a goal. The
reply was, "No, but it was a jolly good 'try'", which is where one of
the rugby scoring terms comes from. Rugby Union was formally organised
by 1871, but suffered another split by 1893 when Rugby League was
formed. I digress.Near the end of 1863, Charles Wreford-Brown, who later became a
notable official of the Football Association, was asked by some friends
at Oxford whether he cared to join them for a game of "rugger" (rugby).
He is said to have refused, preferring instead to go for a game of
"soccer" - a play on the word "association". The name caught on.English public schoolboys love to nickname things, then as much as
now. The tendency is to add "er" to the end of many words. Rugby [Union]
Football became "rugby", and then "rugger". Association Football was
better know as "assoccer" and naturally evolved into "soccer" which is
much easier for a schoolboy to say...Therefore, the word "soccer" has been used in the mother country
of all football-type games since at least the mid-19th century. The
word "football", however, was more descriptive of the game (i.e.
kicking a ball with the feet!) and was the term more frequently used.
The British exported the game, so naturally the word "football" was the
name mostly used all over the world. In recent decades it has been
noted that the word "soccer" is apparently increasing in usage. The
word "football" still appears in formal designations, however, in for
example, Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). The
word "soccer" is more commonly used in several countries around the
world that play other forms of football. When Australians say
"football", they mean Australian Rules football instead [Well in southern
states they do, in the north they mean Rugby League -Ed]. The Irish
have Gaelic football. In the USA and Canada, of course, there is
Gridiron football. Rugby Union, Rugby League, Australian Rules,
Gaelic, American and Canadian football all owe their roots to
Association football. With the exception of Gaelic Football, they all
use an ovoid shaped ball. None is as popular around the world as
Association football."Football" is the world standard name for "soccer". I always used
the word "football" (and still do, wherever I can). The word "soccer",
however, is engrained into the origins of the modern game of
association football as much as any other aspect of The Game much of
the world enjoys today.Finally, it must be remembered that British football, both
association and rugby, had been organised in the 19th century by
people in the upper echelons of the English educational system, from
"exotic" schools, colleges and universities as Harrow, Eton, Oxford
and Cambridge, just for starters. As I stated earler, students of
the Victorian era, as much as now, loved nicknames and "soccer" and
"rugger" were the accepted everyday names for those people. These
were sports for gentlemen.When the games were taken up by those less fortunate enough to
have received the higher (and more expensive) levels of education
the game of soccer became very popular with the masses. Rugger, less
so. As the rules became increasingly divergent between the two sports,
soccer became the people's sport and rugger remained more of a
"gentleman's" game.Ever heard the phrase, "Soccer is a gentleman's game played by
ruffians and Rugby is a ruffian's game played by gentlemen"?So "soccer" was a fanciful, gentleman's name for the sport. The
mere, common man started to call it "football" for the obvious reason
that it's a game about a ball kicked with the foot. The game, and the
word, was exported by British workers, students and merchant and naval
seamen all over the world in the latter 19th and early 20th century...and the name, and the game, blossomed.I prefer to call it "footy" myself!
- E__________0
Check www.AJAX.NL - official website of the legendary club.