Welcome to the Soccer Tavern, where we’re discussing the history, culture, and philosophy of the beautiful game. My name is Dave and in this video, we’re talking about the origin of the soccer term pitch. Pull up a seat & let’s start the discussion.
The soccer term ‘pitch’ means the rectangular playing area where the players compete in a match. Why is it called a pitch? Well, as with most soccer terms, this term’s history starts in England.
Pitch originated with the sport of cricket and comes from the verb to pitch, meaning to thrust or drive in. Like “to pitch a tent.”
In cricket, the wickets, which are those wooden stumps, are knocked into the ground and since the end of the 17th century, this process has been called “pitching the stumps.”
The term was strictly used as a verb until about the 1870s when it evolved into a noun to refer to the playing area where cricket was played. Finally by the late 1800s or early 1900s, the term was carried over to the soccer world to also refer to the playing area.
An additional point of note is that in England, a field is an open area of land, generally used for farming. So, the pitch term evolved to mean an open area of land specific for playing a sport.
Lastly, I’ve seen some suggestions that the pitch term comes from the fact that playing areas are slightly sloped to help with drainage. The playing areas may be sloped to help with drainage but that has nothing to do with the term pitch applying to a playing area.
So, that’s where the soccer term ‘pitch’ comes from. If you have anything else to add to the discussion, please let us know in the comments section below the video.
Thanks for stopping by The Soccer Tavern. Hope to see you again soon. Cheers.
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