Official Soccer Ball Standards
Although normally called soccer, another less popular name for the sport is football, a concept that renders the full specificity of the game. Before the modern design of the official soccer ball, you should know that in the beginnings of the sport the ‘ball’ used was either a human head, a human or animal skull, an animal bladder, stitched up cloth, or an animal-skin ball. In medieval times, stories tell about animal bladders mostly, which, progressively started being covered with leather to maintain the shape better and for a longer time. It was only with Charles Goodyear who, in 1836 patented vulcanized rubber and in 1855 designed and created the first vulcanized rubber balls, that we can say we are getting closer to the shape of the official soccer ball of the modern times. Then, in 1862, H. J. Lindon developed one of the first inflatable bladders for balls and he is also known to have invented the rugby ball, although he did never patent it.
There are significant features to consider if we are to consider the official soccer ball chronologically. There have been more than just one official soccer ball models used, at least in the 20th century and up to the present. Only a few manufacturing companies have been granted the distinction of producing such items. Thus we ought to refer to Puma, Brine, Nike or Adidas that design soccer balls following the regulations and laws established by the international football organisms and associations (FIFA).
A first official soccer ball worth mentioning was Telstar, used in Mexico in 1970. Adidas started to produce soccer balls in 1963; they created the first official FIFA World Cup ball in 1970. It was the first ball that had 32 black and white panels and it was more easily noticeable on black and white televisions. Two Adidas soccer balls were afterwards launched in Germany, in 1974. Telstar was reissued but this time the gold branding was replaced by a black one. Then Adidas produced the official soccer ball in an all-black version called Adidas Chile, after an all-white ball that had been used in Chile in 1962. The materials and techniques from these first models were afterwards preserved in the 1970 releases.
To count some more of the balls that have won the official soccer ball status there are: Tango Durlast 1978 characterized by dynamism and elegance, Tango Espana, 1982 made real leather, Azteca, Mexico 1986, a premiere of polyurethane rain resistant coated ball, Etrvsco Unico, Italy, or in 1990 the first ball based on an internal polyurethane foam layer.
About the Author:
Jack Sawbridge started kicking the soccer ball at the age of seven. At the age of twelve he became a member of a soccer team. His passion in this kind of sports lead him to write various information about soccer balls. If this article interests you, you may want to read another article written by Jack about the different soccer ball sizes