The Evolution of the Football Ball
When it comes to talking about football games, one of the most neglect factors, it is the football ball. We talk about the condition of the pitch, the referees who take charge of the game and the form of the players but never pay significant attention to one of the essential bits of the equipment. The Ball probably because it is such a simple thing, round subject filled with air that you can purchase in any decent sports shop around the world.
Back in the past at one point right at the beginning of the sport, rugby and football were very related. The only difference between both sports was the shape of the ball. What happened that football went in one direction and rugby balls went in another? How did we move from the original balls football was played to the ultra-modern balls we see now?
The First Steps
In our introduction above we talked about the fact that rugby and football were very related sports but with different rules. Originally both rugby balls and football balls were more round in appearance than anything else. The reason for that is that both of them were made from pig bladders, giving them plum-like shape.
But making balls from pigs bladders was not so easy, simply because the size of the pigs is not the same. Therefore the size of bladders is different, and then that result in different ball sizes. So that had an impact of the way the ball it is kicked, thrown or otherwise used. Then in 1862 Richard Lindon introduced the rubber inner tubes, and then the difference between the rugby balls and footballs began to emerge.
Because of the difficulty to blow the rubber inner tubes by mouth, Lindon invented the first known ball pump. The first balls were far more too spherical in appearance, but that was not accepted very well by the Rugby School who wanted to play with the more oval-shaped ball so that they would differentiate their game from football. So in 1892, the Rugby Football Union decided to make oval the official shape of the rugby ball.
Shape and Size – The First Rules
In 1863 was formed the Football Association, but when it came up with a list of rules for the game, there wasn’t any specific rule about the size and the shape of the ball that should be used for the matches. So in 1872, the rules were revised, and an official set of dimensions for the ball to be used was created for a first time.
Nowadays, specific requirements must be respected:
- The ball to be spherical
- To have a circumference of between 27 and 28 inches in centimetres 68.6cm to 71.1cm
- To be made of leather or other adequate materials
- The weight must be no less than 410g(14oz) and no more than 450g(16oz) at the start of the game
- Pressure must be equal to 0.6 – 1.1 atmosphere at sea level (8.5lbs/sq in to 15.6lbs/sq)
It is difficult to believe but today’s rules are very close to the original ones created in the nineteenth century, with the only significant difference from the original rules to the current ones being the weight – from 13 to 15 oz to 14 – 16oz.
Another different thing between today’s ball and the balls from the past is the material that the balls are made from, with the technology making sure that the development has been for the better. In 1888 company nowadays known as Mitre started mass production of balls and they believed that one of the most important things is that the ball must keep it in shape. So what they did is start using very thick and heavy leather, with cows rump making the best balls and with cows shoulder the cheaper one.
Design – Development & Improvement of The Ball
The inner bladders of the ball were made with a durable rubber that could endure a lot of pressure, and the outside of the ball was made up of leather. The colour of the ball was dark in particular dark brown, not for any reason other than parity. But the ball was not ideal. For kicking the ball has been not very painful, but if you were going to head it would have been a different story. The reason for that is the stitching and the leather, for the fact that the leather is a perfect absorber of water, and that makes it heavy. So it would have been incredibly painful for those football players heading the ball.
The year it is 1930, the final of the World Cup. Argentina was playing Uruguay, and no agreement could be reached which county ball to be used at the final. So what they decided was a first half to played with Argentinas ball and the second half to be played with Uruguay’s ball. The final result was 4-2 to Uruguay, but at half time the score was 2-1 to Argentina. So probably the design of the football played a significant role in the result. Does Argentina would win the game if they continued playing with their ball no one knows, but this gives us clear evidence of how the design of the ball could change the final score.
With the years, the look and the quality of the ball began to improve. By 1950 the colour of the ball became white because that was allowing the crowd the see the ball better and when it was snowing the colour of the ball was orange. At the World Cup in Mexico in 1970 was introduce Adidas Telstar ball which was the first ball to feature white and black panels and that was by the idea of Richard Buckminster. He created that ball with 20 hexagonal and twelve pentagonal surfaces, sew together to create a near-perfect sphere.
The Modern Ball
Believe it or not the first football with a different colour than black and white was used at the World Cup in France in 1998. The black was replaced by blue as a secondary colour and red were added so the ball could present the Tricolore of France, which is red, white and blue. By 2002 the World Cup in Japan the traditional colour was entirely abandoned in favour of the golden-coloured ball. The start of the new era football balls.
The first big step of changing the design of the ball different than the colour came about in 2006 when Adidas introduced the Teamgeist. That model had fourteen panels rather than the traditional thirty-two, meaning that the ball was much closer to be perfectly spherical. The other difference was that the panels weren’t stitched but moulded together which process was continued with Jabulani ball that was used in South Africa in the 2010 World Cup. That ball was even whit fewer panels – only 8 in particular.
No Ball, Now Game
We could talk forever about football, but we have to admit that without this perfectly spherical thing called ball football would never be the same. Going through so many changes within the years and the changing football the design and development of football ball continue changing with the balance between a ball that is light but firm, spherical and with easily predicted flight-path a difficult one to find. This adventure of creating and developing doesn’t look that it will finish soon. There always will have something newer and better. That is in the human nature.
Petar Leykov
As a football fan, this post about the evolution of the football ball was very interesting to me. I have to say that design of the old ones will always be appealing to me, no matter what the new ones look like. And who would have thought that it was at the World Cup in France in 1998 that the ball was for the first time in different colors. Interesting fact to tell to my dad when we watch our next game together 😊
Absolutely, the work put behind the improvement of the ball its just crazy and the development of the ball won’t stop till here. So I am looking forward to seeing what the ball will look like in future.
Hi, as technology improves, Absolutely everything in this world improves. I seen yesterday that Fireworks are now being replaced by drones. What a brilliant concept. The evolution of the soccer ball is the same idea. there’s a science to this game, and there is even a science to the soccer ball. There’s a lot more to it than people would think about too.Some people would just say it is a circle ball that you kick, however the intelligence that has gone into creating this ball is more than that.
You are entirely right, Jake. It’s not a simple ball anymore. There is so much going behind the scenes. With a lot of researches and money put into creating any new line of football balls. For example, Adidas which is the leading distributor of the Champions League ball, every year they have to come with new ball design and better quality. So its a lot of work behind creating of “simple” football ball.
Thank you very much Petar for this beautiful writing. I can learn more about the evolution that is happening in the world of football. And it’s true like you say that one of thing that has a significant change is the ball. Because with a ball that is not perfectly round, then kicking prediction also cannot be done perfectly. However, speaking of the skills of today’s football players who are experiencing evolution too, is that also due to the evolution of the ball?
Absolutely, because with the change of the ball, players have to adapt quickly to these rapid changes in today’s modern football. Especially the goalkeepers because they experience the changes of the ball the most.
Hey Petar, Thank you for writing on The Evolution of the Football Ball. I enjoyed while reading about football ball and find the changes in Design – Development & Improvement of The Ball. Now football ball is changing every year with different color and different material. Thank you for sharing your awesome knowledge about football.
Parveen
Thank you for your comment Parveen. Indeed football changed a lot with the time, and it’s not only football ball changed. There is some possitive and negative side of it as everywhere else. So we can just see what future will bring to us.
Hi Petar,
Really interesting article on the evolution of the football ball. I’ve followed the sport since the age 5 & I must be honest I’d never really thought about how the ball has changed in that time. It’s changed a far bit while I’ve been watching (I’m now 33). I had no idea that it was originally from pig bladders though, fascinating!
It’s astonishing how they improved since then by making them from pig bladders to nowadays modern balls. It’s just crazy. But this can show us that human beings always develope and improve in any sector.
You presented a very interesting evolution of the soccer ball. I didn’t know her story and I’m glad I found your post. Thank you for sharing the history of the soccer ball with us. I haven’t given much importance to the soccer ball so far. But it is obvious (Argentina-Uruguay match) that the ball used in the game can influence the result.
Deschideți în Google Traducere
Yea that particular game is an example which shows the football world that something has to be done about improving the quality of the ball.
Thhis means that the variance on the used balls in these two sports played a very important role in it’s definition as independent sports. There’s a lot of technology behind each football ball.
If I don’t remember wrong, they even included sensors to accurately define balls position during game and validate goals if necessary during the last FIFA Mundial version (Russia 2018).
It happens in all sport from time to time. Due probably to certain type of human evolutive capacity, we keep braking performance records over and over and as a result of how our bodies shape, the related tool must also evolve.
Thanks for a great review!
That was a vital moment for those great sports. Which has so much in common and yet they are so different.
Regarding evolution, in general, you are right. Like in any aspect of our life, there is a lot of development going on. The simple example is technologies, and alongside that now football is turning a new chapter in its history including VAR which I don’t know whether it’s improving the game or it takes the beauty of this great game.
Wow. You’re very right when you said about how neglecting the football ball is. I usually talk and argue for long with friends and football ball lovers about players, the stadium, referees, etc. but not a word on the most important and crucial equipment of the game.
And now, going through you article, I’ve been able to learn a lot of the history and how it evolves, even the fact that the football and rugby sport were much related.
This is really an informative article and I’ve learnt a lot.
Thank you, Kell. I didn’t know as well before I do my research that those two sport has been so related to each other, but since then they went to different paths and the rest of its history.