For the complete history go to http://www.the-game.org/history-originsto1889.htm Soccer developed in America much as it developed in England. The sport of some form or another was popular in the townships and eventually became unofficial institutions in the Universities. Just as Rugby and Cambridge had differing opinions on rules so did Harvard and Princeton. We can thank Harvard and a man by the name Walter Camp who went to Yale for our American Football. Unfortuneately they did not name the sport after their University like Rugby did in England. So now a sport which has very little to do with feet is called football and the word soccer was coined.
Rugby is a school, not a University. "Soccer" is an abbreviation of "association football", and something I learned on these forums is that the "foot....", refers to it not being played on horseback, but on.... foot..
More like common ancestor to both soccer/rugby - that guy picks up the ball basically jumpstarting separation of rugby rules football v. Sheffield rules(?)i.e. soccer - America picks up rugby, bastardizes it and that becomes American football. I am sure some smarter person will correctly my well-meaning but probably inaccurate post.
There's no hard evidence that "that guy" (William Webb Ellis) played any role in the development of Rugby Football. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. If you look at the original LOTG (there's a photo reproduction in Stanley Lover's book "Soccer Rules Explained", but tough to find anything decent via Google), there are many differences between the game then and now. I'd love to see a reconstruction of an 1863 football match, though I'd not want to be part of it, given that hacking (kicking below the knee) was perfectly legal. Handling, catching and throwing were all legal in those days. Some interesting thoughts at this site http://www.rsssf.com/rssbest/modernorig.html Basic premise is that it was the difference of opinion over hacking more than handling v dribbling that caused the rugby types to split off, forming their Rugby Union in 1871.