To paraphrase George Bernard Shaw, we are all nations divided by a common language.
I spent a fair amount of time on business and personal trips to Australia back in the 1990s, and one thing that I learned there was that the term “footy” referred to Australian Rules Football. There was “The Footy Show” on TV (IIRC), which was all about highlights of last week’s games, and what we could expect in the upcoming matches. I got to attend a few Australian Rules football games during my time in Australia, and really enjoyed them–it is a fast-paced, exciting game. (Go West Coast Eagles!).
As for me, and in regards to the OP, I voted “other,” because to me, “football” refers to Canadian (CFL) Rules football. This is the game I played back in high school, and in pickup games. Canadian universities also play CFL rules. Secondarily, “football” means American rules; that is, NFL football, and its US college equivalents. After that, comes Australian Rules.
The game where the ball is kicked with the foot, and hands are not allowed to be used, except by the goalkeeper, is (to me) “soccer.” It is not, (again, to me; YMMV), “football.”
Just so you know, Footie is used in the UK to mean football. I remember as a kid in the 80s, when they started showing NFL on Channel 4, my Father correcting me when I called the sport “American Footie”. That was apparently not the done thing to do.
The term “soccer” is commonly used in Britain (example), so poking fun at Americans for using it doesn’t really make sense. I have taken to referring to the sport as soccer when posting here, since it is a predominantly American board. In real life, though, “football” means association football to me.
[edit] as for rugby, I have occasionally heard Rugby League commentators say things like “that’s good football”, so they do sometimes call it that.
I’m sure that in the UK, the sport is known as “footie.” I’m just speaking from my experience in Canada, the US, and Australia.
I’d never refer to Canadian or American football as “footy,” and neither would millions of other CFL or NFL fans. Australians would refer to their homegrown game that way, and that’s fair enough. But the point I was making is that the only context in which I have heard the term “footy” is in regards to Australian Rules football.
As always, your mileage may vary. Or, if you prefer, we’re English-speaking countries divided by a common language.
In my circle, football defaults to rugby (union). Rugby is never referred to as ‘union’, rugby league is referred to as ‘league’, and Aussie rules is that or AFL.
I think that’s about it. Whichever one you and your mates follow is “the footy.” If I ask my mates if they watched the footy on the weekend they know I mean the Rugby League, if I ask my nephew he’ll tell me about the Test on Saturday, if I ask Matt he’ll tell me about how the Swans went. The other codes are variously the union, the soccer, the league or the AFL. The only one that is not footy is American football. My son and I used to go and watch the NSW Gridiron. Good value because they play all the games one after the other at one venue. But footy it ain’t.
What I find interesting is that there is a show on SKY Sports called “Soccer Saturday” which is an Association football discussion/highlight/whatever show.
Football or footy only means Aussie rules in the South-Western half of the country. In the rest it means rugby league. There are two Footy Shows made every week - one for Aussie rules which is shown in prime time in Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia and in the wee small hours of the morning in New South Wales and Queensland, and the rugby league version which runs in prime-time in NSW/Qld and after midnight everywhere else.
The only person I know in this country that says football and means soccer is a very cranky Englishman who thinks it’s more important to stick to his traditions than to be understood.
