Soccer in the United States

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Soccer, more commonly known internationally as football has long been one of the most popular recreational sports in the United States, but professional soccer has been less popular there than in much of the rest of the world.

The first "football club" in the United States was the Oneida Football Club of Boston, Massachusetts, founded in 1862. It is often said that this was the first club to play association football outside Britain. However, the "Oneidas" were clearly formed before the English FA; it is not known what rules they used[1] and the club wound up within the space of a few years. The first US match known to have occurred under FA rules was a game between Princeton and Rutgers in 1869, although these two colleges would soon become famous as early bastions of American football.

Early soccer leagues in the US mostly used the name football leagues: for example, the American Football Association (founded in 1884), the American Amateur Football Association (1893), the American League of Professional Football (1894), the National Association Foot Ball League (1895), and the Southern New England Football League (1914). However, the word soccer was begining to catch on, and the St Louis Soccer League was a significant competition between 1907 and 1939. What is now the United States Soccer Federation was originally the US Football Association, formed in 1913 by the merger of the American Football Association and the American Amateur Football Association. The governing body of the sport in the US did not have the word soccer in its name until 1945, when it became the US Soccer Football Association. It did not drop the word football from its name until 1974, when it became the US Soccer Federation.

Professional soccer does seem to be expanding in recent years. In 1994 the World Cup was played in the United States for the first time winning the sport more recongnition. In the 2002 World Cup the United States did surprisingly well which also succeeded in winning more converts. Women's soccer is relatively more popular than men and the United States' national women's team is one of the best in the world.

A number of American soccer leagues have been attempted, today the largest is Major League Soccer that has had some success, but is still not nearly as high profile as any of the big four sports.

Sam's Army is the official fan club of United States soccer.

Soccer associations in the United States include: