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The first Soccer ball
(255 BC-220 AD)
The first Soccer ball was made out of human heads, stitched up cloth, animal and human skulls to pig or cow bladders. -
Period: 400 to Sep 26, 1400
Improving the soccer ball
5th to 15th century.
A medieval custom was to take pig bladders used form live stock killed in preparation for winter sustenace and inflate them. They would use their feet and hands to keep the ball in the air -
Still improving the soccer ball
In 1836 Charles Goodyear pantanted vulcanized rubber. prior to this, balls were dependent on the size and shape of the pig's bladder.The more irregular the bladder, the more unpredictable the behavior of the ball was when kicked. However it would not be until the twentieth century until most balls were made with rubber bladders. -
still improving the soccer ball
In 1855, Charles Goodyear designed and built the first vulcanized rubber soccer balls (footballs). The following picture shows the Charles Goodyear ball that is on display at the National Soccer Hall of Fame which is located in Oneonta, NY, USA. -
Still improving the soccer ball
In the 1862, H.J. Lindon developed one of the first inflatable rubber bladders for balls. Tragically his wife previously died from lung disease. Reportedly from blowing up many hundreds of pig's bladders. Lindon was probably inspired to develop the inflatable rubber bladder because of the ill effects of blowing up pig's bladders. The balls with the rubber bladders ensured that the ball remained hard and oval. Lindon also claimed to have invented the rugby ball but did not patent the idea. In -
Improving the of the soccer ball
In 1863 the newly formed English Football Association met to hammer out the laws of the game. No description of the ball was offered in the first set of rules. -
Improving the soccer ball
When the rules were revised in 1872 it was agreed that the ball "must be spherical with a circumference of 27 to 28 inches" (68.6 cm to 71.1 cm). That rule remains in today's FIFA laws. Very little has ever been written about the ball, probably because it has remained very much the same over the years. The official size and weight of the ball was first fixed in 1872. -
Improving the soccer ball
It was changed ever so little in 1937 when the official weight was increased from 13-15 oz to 14-16 oz. The Encyclopedia of Association Football -
Improving the soccer ball
first published in England in 1956) says as follows "According to the Laws of Football, the ball must be spherical with an outer casing of leather or other approved materials. The circumference shall not be more than 28 in., nor less than 27 in, while the weight at the start of the game must not be more that 16 oz., nor less than 14 oz. -
Improving the soccer ball
The Laws of the Game as published in 2001 say exactly the same thing as to size and weight. What has changed drastically over the last 30 or so years is the material the ball is made of and the shape of the panels that make up the ball.
