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Soccer Balls HistoryEarly years. South Americans were using a light elasticized ball made by pig and cow bladders. 225 BC to 220 AD. During the Chinese Dynasties Ts'in and Han seems that they were playing a kind of soccer using animal-skin balls. Both Romans and Greeks were playing a game with a ball Pre-Medieval Age. Kicking game between villages. Villagers were kicking a skull from their village to the other village's square. Medieval Age. "Soccer balls" were covered by leather. 1855. In 1855 Charles Goodyear invented vulcanized rubber and designed new soccer balls. 1962. In 1862, H.J. Lindon developed one of the first inflatable rubber bladders for balls. 1872. In 1872, new rules about the ball are agreed. From then, balls should be spherical with a circumference of 27 to 28 inches.
Dimensions Law of the game specifies the ball to be an air-filled sphere with a circumference of 68–70 cm (or 27–28 inches), a weight of 410–450 g (or 14–16 ounces), inflated to a pressure of 60–110 kPa (or 8.5–15.6 psi), and covered in leather or "other suitable" material. The weight specified for a ball is the dry weight: older balls often became significantly heavier in the course of a match played in wet weather. The standard ball is a Size 5. Smaller sizes exist; Size 3 is standard for team handball; others are used in underage games or as novelty items. Construction Most modern balls are stitched from 32 panels of waterproofed leather or plastic: 12 regular pentagons and 20 regular hexagons. The 32-panel configuration is similar to the polyhedron known as the truncated icosahedron, except that it is more spherical, because the faces bulge due to the pressure of the air inside. The first 32-panel ball was marketed by Select in the 1950s in Denmark. This configuration became common throughout Continental Europe in the 1960s, and was publicised worldwide by the Adidas Telstar, the official ball of the 1970 World Cup. Older balls were usually stitched from 18 oblong non-waterproof leather panels, similar to the design of modern volleyballs and Gaelic footballs, and laced to allow access to the internal air bladder. This configuration is still common, as are more novel ones, such as the 26-panel Mitre PRO 100T, and the 2006 FIFA World Cup football, the 14-panel Adidas +Teamgeist (a truncated octahedron). There are also indoor footballs, which are made of one or two pieces of plastic. Often these have designs printed on them to resemble a stitched leather ball. Patterns The design of black pentagon/white hexagon was intended for maximum visibility on monchrome television sets. It has become the archetype, still used for generic balls and symbolic representations of the game. However, premium branded balls have other more elaborate patterns. The Nike Total 90 Aerow has rings intended to aid goalkeepers to determine the spin on the ball. "Official replicas" of the Teamgeist have its 14-panel pattern superimposed on a cheaper 28-panel ball. The official ball of the UEFA Champions League, the Adidas Finale has stars on the ball. Older balls were monochrome: originally brown; and later white, especially for floodlit matches. Brightly-coloured balls are used on snow-covered pitches. powered by wikipedia |
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