Footy, roos meat pies, Holdens ...

Ian Cole ponders the meaning of one of the English language’s most disputed words

FOOTBALL season is looming with some matches already taking place. But wait a minute! What is meant by football?

Worldwide, football means different things to different people. To say the word football in the US would imply American football or gridiron. To say football in Ireland, would mean Gaelic football. In most Australian states, it could imply Australian Rules. In England it would be what we might call soccer. Football terminology is becoming complex and even in Australia it is changing. Countries often call their national winter game football and have alternate terminology for ball sports in other countries.

The US would call their game football and it is run by the National Football League. Their terminology for other games would be Australian Rules or Gaelic football or soccer. The English would regard the game in the US as gridiron and the game in Ireland as Gaelic football while theirs is simply football. Everyone, it seems, regards their game as football and use alternate terminology for other countries games. But what about Australia?

Is the terminology changing in Australia? What I have always called soccer is increasingly in Australia being called football. Players both male and female, plus commentators, are increasingly using the term football in relation to soccer and for quite a good reason.

Since 2005, Soccer Australia became Football Federation Australia so it was obvious the terminology would change. And of course in the Olympics the game is called football. But some combination of history with some urban myth is necessary.

Years ago, in order to define itself, the term soccer emerged. Way back in England there were two main winter codes. They were the private school (aka public school) game of rugby football and the more working-class game of association football (aka soccer). In order to define their independence from each other, both it seems used the slang Oxford “er” to define themselves. Rugby football added “er” to become rugger, while association football added “er” to their abbreviated title of association football to become as soccer. By the magic of adding and deleting a few letters, the term soccer was born. And besides, the term soccer has not totally been dispensed with in Australia in favour of the term football, as the national men’s team is in fact the Socceroos!

SO, codgers like myself, brought up with Aussie Rules, after reading a headline saying football, often need to read the next sentence to see if it is about Aussie Rules or soccer. No matter. Whatever football code is followed, whether Aussie Rules, soccer or rugby, there would be ardent supporters who on the arrival of the footy season, would agree with the words of former manager of Liverpool Football Club, Bill Shankly: “Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you. It is much, much more important than that!”

WORLDWIDE, FOOTBALL MEANS DIFFERENT THINGS TO DIFFERENT PEOPLE.