[Ads-l] Antedating of "Association Football"

[Ben Zimmer]

An 1855 citation would be improbable, since "Association football" came to
be known as such because teams played under "the Laws of the Game" drafted
by the Football Association in 1863. And indeed, this is a misdating --
it's actually from 1885 (it's from a letter to the editor dated Mar. 4th,
1885).

--bgz

On Thu, Oct 24, 2024 at 8:40 AM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:

> The term "association football" is the etymological parent of the term
> "soccer."  The OED's first citation for "association football" is dated
> 1873.  I am handicappped in antedating this because I do not currently have
> a full subscription to British Newspaper Archive.  However, BNA seems to
> include the following citation:
>
> 1855 Luton Times and Advertiser 6 Mar. 5   The object of the Association
> is the improvement and extension of Association Football in the above named
> counties.
>
> BNA appears to have other citations for "association football" beginning
> in 1870.  Newspapers.com has an 1871 citation.
>
>
>

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