[Ads-l] Antedating of "Association Football"

[Shapiro, Fred]

I'm not sure whether this citaton "counts" as a usage of "Association Football" (does it mean "laws of Association Football" or "the Association's publication of football laws"?).

1870 The Sportsman 1 Oct. 2 (British Newspaper Archive)  The ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL LAWS (published by authority) and the PUBLIC SCHOOL LAWS post free fpr Sixpence.

Fred Shapiro



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From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of dave at wilton.net <dave at WILTON.NET>
Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2024 1:13 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Antedating of "Association Football"


I have an 1866 citation of "Association football," but this is in reference to the ball, not the game:

Advertisement. Bell’s Life in London and Sporting Chronicle (London), 17 November 1866, 2. Gale Primary Sources: Nineteenth Century UK Periodicals.

"FOOTBALLS and the LAWS.—JOHN LILLYWHITE has now ON VIEW a very large STOCK of the Rugby and Association FOOTBALLS, which are warranted to be of the best manufacture. The Association Laws (published by authority) price 6d, per post 7d; on cardboard for the use in the pavillion 1s, per post is 2d."

And an 1871 citation for the game itself, interestingly in a publication aimed at popularizing the game in America:

Alcock, Charles W., ed. The Book of Rules of the Game of Foot Ball, as Adopted and Played by the English Football Associations. New York: Peck and Snyder, 1871, 13. HathiTrust Digital Archive.

"I will merely therefore remark that to play with the feet is the main object of Association Football. Hands should not and must not be used. Difficult at first it may seem, but the abolition of handling and patting the ball will be found in every sense conducive to a better and more scientific game."

See [ https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wordorigins.org%2Fbig-list-entries%2Fsoccer&data=05%7C02%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C1ca9fd4921314cdb53b008dcf44f265d%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638653868002336456%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=p01WwmX6OhoULgltS%2Bmh8AooYqbBuBrjKGq%2FRjjWLxg%3D&reserved=0<https://www.wordorigins.org/big-list-entries/soccer> ]( https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wordorigins.org%2Fbig-list-entries%2Fsoccer&data=05%7C02%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C1ca9fd4921314cdb53b008dcf44f265d%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638653868002354727%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=ygP8slI7eukXX0CGnsR%2FgNOpWO5cy5Hk9DIlFdf0eUI%3D&reserved=0<https://www.wordorigins.org/big-list-entries/soccer> )



-----Original Message-----
From: "Ben Zimmer" <bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2024 12:53pm
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: [ADS-L] Antedating of "Association Football"



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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