19/07/2025

SPORTS SATURDAY | JULY 19, 2025

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Is it football or soccer? Why the US might finally start calling soccer ‘football’

Ű BY JAMES ROBSON

I T is the world’s most popular sport and yet there is still debate over what it should actu ally be called. Is it football or soccer? US President Donald Trump waded into the topic while at the Club World Cup final in New Jersey last Sunday. He joked that he could pass an executive order to bring the United States in line with much of the rest of the world and ensure that from now on Americans refer to it as football. “I think I could do that,” he said with a smile during an interview with host broadcaster DAZN . It was a light-hearted comment, but at a time when the US is playing an increasingly significant role in soccer the question of why Americans continue to call it by a different name to the one by which it is most commonly known has been raised again. “They call it football, we call it soccer. I’m not sure that change could be made very easily,” Trump said. Soccer keeps growing in the US and so does its influence on the sport. It is co-hosting the men’s World Cup with Canada and Mexico next year – the third year in a row that it stages a major tournament after the 2024 Copa America and this summer’s Club World Cup. Other factors are keeping soccer more often in the US. consciousness – and perhaps they will make saying “football” more commonplace in a tough sporting landscape. One of the greatest players of all time, Lionel Messi, plays for MLS team Inter Miami; the popularity of the Premier League and

isn’t the real problem Szymanski suggested the problem some people have with “soccer” isn’t the word at all. But rather that it is specifically used in America. “It’s when Americans use this word that we get the outpourings of distress and horror, and one of the most popular thoughts that people throw at this is to say that American football is not really football,” he said in his lecture. He argued that given the overwhelming popularity of the NFL in the US it makes perfect sense to differentiate between soccer and its own version of football. The use of the word “soccer” is a bit more confused in other countries. Australia, which has its own Australian rules football along with both rugby codes, commonly uses the term and its national men’s team are known as the Socceroos. It’s soccer federation, however, is called Football Australia. It’s a similar situation in Ireland, where Gaelic football is popular. The term “soccer” is used but the national soccer team is still governed by a body called the Football Association of Ireland. Canada, like the US simply calls it soccer, which clearly distinguishes it from the NFL and Canadian Football League. The Associated Press stylebook says soccer is the preferred term in the US but notes that “around the world the sport is referred to as football.” – The Independent

management at the University of Michigan, wrote the book It’s Football, Not Soccer (And Vice Versa) and explored the origins of the name. In a lecture to the American University of Beirut in 2019 he said soccer was “very clearly a word of English/British origin.” “And bear in mind that the name ‘association football’ doesn’t really appear until the 1870s,” he said, “so it appears really very early on in the history of the game and the word ‘soccer’ has been used over and over again since it was coined at the end of the 19th century.” “Soccer” is not a commonly used term in Britain these days but that has not always been the case. It was the title of a popular Saturday morning television show, Soccer AM , which ran from 1994 to 2023 on the Premier League’s host broadcaster Sky Sports . England great and 1966 World Cup winner Bobby Charlton ran popular schools for decades, titled “Bobby Charlton’s Soccer School.” And Matt Busby – Manchester United’s iconic manager who won the 1968 European Cup – titled his autobiography, which was published in 1974, Soccer at the Top, My Life in Football. That book title suggests the terms “soccer” and “football” were interchangeable in British culture at that time. Perhaps the word ‘soccer’

Champions League is booming; and the documentary series Welcome to Wrexham about a low-level Welsh club co-owned by Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, has attracted new eyeballs. Despite “soccer” being widely associated with the US, it is commonly accepted that the word was actually coined in Britain, perhaps as far back as the 1880s. The exact date when it was first used is not known, but it is believed “soccer” was derived from “association football,” which was the first official name of the sport. The charity English Heritage says the nickname may have first been used by pupils at the iconic Harrow School to “distinguish the new association game from their older pursuit, known as ‘footer.’” Numerous versions of football began to flourish, often involving handling a ball more than kicking it. One example dating back to the 1600s and still played today in England is Royal Shrovetide. Rugby is another example. The English Football Association was created in 1863 and drew up codified rules for associated football to set it apart from other versions being played elsewhere in Britain and, from there, soccer as we know it was born. Dr. Stefan Szymanski, a professor of sport

Chelsea’s Reece James (2nd left) and teammates celebrate with the trophy alongside US President Donald Trump (2nd right) after winning the Fifa Club World Cup. – REUTERSPIC

SIDENETTING

in transfer fees this summer to bring in Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez and the club record buy Florian Wirtz. However, they could recoup some money with doubts about Darwin Nunez’s future and with Bayern Munich having submitted an opening offer for Luis Diaz, though Liverpool

move into club ownership with Swansea City,” the American rapper and entertainment icon said in the announcement. “The story of the club and the area really struck a chord with me,” he added. “This is a proud, working class city and club. An underdog that bites back, just like me.” Snoop Dogg, who has more than 88 million Instagram followers, helped launch the team’s 2025-26 home shirt last weekend. Luka Modric, who recently signed with AC Milan from Real Madrid, joined Swansea’s ownership group in April. Devils make improved offer for Mbeumo MANCHESTER UNITED have made a third bid for Bryan Mbeumo, raising their offer of up to £70m (RM406m), including add-ons. United are willing to pay Brentford an initial £65m for the Cameroon

international, with the possibility of a further £5m, depending on how the forward fares at Old Trafford. Brentford had wanted a sum in excess of the £62.5m (RM363m) United paid Wolves for their first summer signing, Matheus Cunha, noting that Mbeumo scored more Premier League goals than the Brazilian last season. Mbeumo, who had also attracted interest from Newcastle and Tottenham, had made it apparent he would prefer to join United. They submitted an initial offer of £45m (RM261m), plus a further £10m (RM58m) in add ons, for the 26-year-old, then improving that to get closer to Brentford’s valuation. However, that was in June and Brentford had not budged in their valuation of the former Troyes player, leading to United’s third attempt to sign him. Mbeumo, who scored 20 Premier League goals last season, is wanted by Ruben Amorim as he seeks to overhaul his attack after United struck just 44 times in the top flight.

Liverpool advance on Ekitike LIVERPOOL are in advanced talks with Eintracht Frankfurt over Hugo Ekitike. The Premier League champions could make the French forward their fourth major summer signing if a deal can be agreed with the Bundesliga club. It is expected that Ekitike would want to make the switch to Anfield and that personal terms could be agreed with the 23-year-old. The former Paris Saint-Germain player has a €100m (RM490m) release clause though it is not yet apparent if Liverpool will trigger it or agree a lower price with Eintracht. Ekitike scored 22 goals in all competitions for Eintracht last season, forming a prolific forward partnership with Omar Marmoush before the Egyptian was signed by Manchester City. Liverpool have already committed around £170m (RM986m), with the potential for more in add-ons,

rejected that €67.5m (RM331m) bid. Snoop Dogg joins Swansea ownership group

SNOOP DOGG has become a “co-owner and investor” of Welsh soccer club Swansea. The former Premier League club, which plays in the English second division, didn’t disclose financial details in yesterday’s announcement, which shines a spotlight on yet another unheralded team from Wales after Wrexham’s well documented journey. “My love of football is well known, but it feels special to me that I make my