Football & Soccer

In a story I've been reading here on BCTS, I noticed one of the characters mentioned both soccer about as frequently as football. This got me to wondering, do British folk use both terms about as frequently, or is that something just this author did. I'd always assumed football would be used, since that's what I usually saw in other stories, but I realize I could be very mistaken in that assumption. If there's anyone out there who'd be willing to clear things up for me, I'd much appreciate it! :)