The rules of football were codified in England by the Football Association in 1863, and the name association football was coined to distinguish the game from the other versions of football played at the time. The word soccer is a colloquial abbreviation of association (from assoc.) and first appeared in the 1880s. The word is sometimes credited to Charles Wreford Brown, an Oxford student said to have been fond of shortened forms such as brekkers for breakfast and rugger for rugby football. During the late 19th century the word soccer tended to be used only at British independent (public) schools; even in the UK, most people knew the game simply as football. The term association football has never been widely used, although in England some clubs in rugby league strongholds adopted the title Association Football Club (AFC) to avoid confusion with the dominant sport in their area.
The longer version of the name, "soccer football", is used less often than it once was. The United States Soccer Federation was known as the United States Soccer Football Association from 1945 until 1974 when it adopted its current name. Some soccer clubs, in Australia for example, still contain the words "soccer football" in their titles. "Football" is used in more countries by more speakers and by more non-native speakers; as well as countries where the game is most prominent. The game is sometimes also known colloquially as footy and footer in various places. In only a few countries "soccer" is the most dominant form, the United States being the largest.
