History

Modern Times

Only after rubber was introduced to Europe in the late nineteenth century was the technical problem solved which made a bouncing ball possible.

In 1823 a Mr Macintosh found out how to make rubber into thin sheets. From these he made the first waterproof coats which he called 'macs'.

The idea of very thin rubber quickly led to the development of inflatable rubber balloons of great strength able to stand heavy pressure. This made them ideal inner tubes for tyres for motor vehicles, bicycles and footballs.

A balloon was placed inside a leather case and filled with air. It made a perfect sphere which not only bounced but was light enough to kick. Now for the first time there was a football which not only had bounce but was light enough to be kicked.

Surely it is no accident that this technology and the game of football developed in parallel.

The heavy, brown leather, rubber-bladder inflated footballs of early soccer remained unchanged for decades. Some were made from twelve petal shaped panels stitched together with a circular 'cap' at each end, as were the Egyptian linen spheres.

One of the first football factories.

Football was becoming an industry - and dependent industries, employing large numbers of men quickly mushroomed.

Footballs were made by hand from cowhide (leather) - described as "practically waterproof".

The stretching process was a trade secret.A football made of badly stretched leather quickly lost its shape.

History

Modern Times and Modern Technology

Modern Technology soon began to transform the look and feel of the modern football.

Another pattern, with eighteen sections arranged in six panels each of three strips became the more usual design.

Each type was hand stitched, leaving a lace up on one side. A deflated rubber bladder was inserted through the slit, then blown up (with a bicycle pump) and finally the slit in the leather was laced up tight.

A modern objection to this type of football was when the player headed a forceful ball, contact with the laces could be very painful.

Also on wet days the football grew very heavy as the leather case soaked up the water and became caked with mud.

Eventually both these problems were solved. A new type of valve and bladder were invented so laces were done away with and the surface of the leather casing was treated with silicon to make it waterproof. This prevents water being absorbed by the leather casing so the ball maintains a perfect weight even in heavy rain.

The coating enables the leather casing to be coloured white, red, black or any other colour.

Arthur Rowley of West Bromwich Albion, Fulham, Leicester and Shrewsbury - the highest goal scorer in League history (434 goals between 1946-65) demonstrates his skill with an eighteen panel football

......In 1951 a white football was allowed for the first time.

It was felt that this would make the football easier for spectators to see, ......especially under floodlights. The ban on the use of floodlights had been ......lifted by the Football Association in December 1950.

Although this is a modern white football the design is still based on the old style 18 sections, 6 panels. The wording reads:

'Guaranteed hand sewn throughout. Made from English materials. Fully approved by FIFA and FA'.

Modern footballs are often made with 32 panels - 12 pentagons and 20 hexagons.

In recent years there have been a number of fancy decorations added to football casings but traditionalists prefer a plain white football because any pattern which appears to break its spherical shape reduces visibility when the ball is travelling at high speed.

If there has to be a pattern, they say, then make it symmetrical.

Only one of the modern footballs used had an asymmetrical pattern.

This was the Football League official football. When it was first introduced League officials requested that it should always be used when a league game was televised.

Although it was based on the thirty two panel pentagon/hexagon casing, a complete band of red panels ran right around the football. When this is kicked into the air and spun around, the rapidly rotating red panels were dazzling to the eyes. It was strongly objected to by players

.

Two of the most popular new style football both have casings with symmetrical patterns:

The thirty two panel pentagon/hexagon with multi circles. This has a large white circle
around each pentagon.

This type of football was used for all the televised 1990 World Cup matches.