History of association football balls

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The history of association football balls is the history of the football (ball) in the game of association football. While football can be played with many makeshift balls, formalised balls are used in official matches and later used around the world.

Footballs produced nowadays are manufactured to the specifications of the Laws of the Game, specifically Law 2.

Contents

[edit] History

In 1863 the first specification for footballs were laid down by The Football Association, previous to this footballs were made out of inflated leather, with later leather coverings to help footballs maintain their shapes [1]. In 1872 the specifications were revised, and these rules have been left essentially unchanged as defined by the International Football Association Board (for more information see Football (ball)). Differences in footballs created since this rule came into effect has been to do with the material used in their creation.

[edit] Future developments in football construction

Companies such as Mitre, Adidas, Nike and Puma are releasing footballs made out of new materials which promise more accurate flight and more power to be transferred to the football. [2]

[edit] Footballs used in competitions

Many companies throughout the world produce footballs. However Adidas has supplied match balls for all official FIFA and UEFA matches since the 1970s, and also will supply the match balls for the 2008 Olympic Games [3]. They also supply the ball for the UEFA Champions League, the Adidas Finale.

[edit] FIFA World Cup

The following footballs were used in the FIFA World Cup finals over the years [4] [5] [6] [7] :

World Cup Official football Manufacturer Additional information
1966 "Special Edition" Slazenger  
1970 Telstar Adidas The first ball with a black and white pattern used in the FIFA World Cup finals.
1974 Telstar Durlast Adidas  
1978 Tango Adidas  
1982 Tango España Adidas  
1986 Azteca Mexico Adidas First fully synthetic FIFA World Cup ball and first hand-sewed ball
1990 Etrusco Unico Adidas  
1994 Questra [8] Adidas  
1998 Tricolore Adidas First multi-coloured ball at a World Cup finals tournament
2002 Fevernova Adidas  
2006 +Teamgeist ("Team Spirit")
+Teamgeist Berlin
Adidas The +Teamgeist is a 14 panel ball. Each match at the World Cup finals had its own individual ball, printed with the date of the match, the stadium and the team names.[3] It was replaced for the final match by the gold-coloured +Teamgeist Berlin.
2010   Adidas  
2014   Adidas  

[edit] European Football Championship

The following balls were used in the UEFA European Football Championship over the years:[9]

Championship Official football Manufacturer Additional information
1980 Tango Italia Adidas  
1984 Tango Mundial Adidas  
1988 Tango Europa Adidas  
1992 Etrusco Unico Adidas This was the same ball used as in the 1990 FIFA World Cup.
1996 Questra Europa Adidas  
2000 Terrestra Silverstream Adidas  
2004 Roteiro Adidas  
2008 EuroPass Adidas  

[edit] References

[edit] External links