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JUNE 2014 -
SEXY GLAM
MAGAZINE -
57
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 (first published in
England in 1956) says as follows “Ac-
cording 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.” The Laws
of the Game as published in 2001 say ex-
actly 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.
Mass production of soccer balls started as
a direct consequence of the English Foot-
ball League that was founded in 1888.
Mitre and Thomlinson’s of Glasgow were
two of the first companies to mass pro-
duce soccer balls during that time. They
touted that the key element in a quality
football was how well it could retain it’s
shape. Strength of the
leather and the
skills of
the
cut-
ters
and
stitch-
ers were
the main
factors in pro-
ducing a football
that would retain it’s
shape. The top grade covers
were made with leather from the
rump of a cow while lower quality balls
were made from the shoulder. Advances
in ball design came with the development
of interlocking panels instead of the previ-
ously used leather sections that met at
the north and south poles of the
ball. The balls were then
produced with a more
acceptable round
shape.
By the 1900’s
bladders
were made
with
stronger
rubber
and
could
with-
stand
heavier
pressure.
Most balls
produced by
that time used
rubber bladders.
The balls were
made from inner
tubes
cov-
ered with
heavy brown
leather. These
balls would bounce easier
and yet could be kicked. Most balls had
a tanned leather cover with eighteen sec-
tions stitched together arranged in six pan-
els of three strips each. Each section was
stitched together by hand with five-ply
hemp and a small lace-up slit was on one
side. All of the stitching was done with the
ball cover inside out. Once completed,
the cover was reversed with the stitch-
ing on the inside. An un-inflated bladder
was then inserted through the slit. A long
stem neck (aperture) extending from the
bladder was used to inflate the ball. Once
inflated, the tube was inserted through the
15 cm slit and then the opening was laced
up tight. You can imagine how often that
these soccer balls had to re-inflated. Even
during a game.
These balls were good for kicking but was
painful when heading due to the heavy
stitching and the water absorption charac-
teristics of the leather. Water absorption of
the leather during rain made the ball very
heavy and caused many head injuries.
Other problems of the old leather balls
were the various quality of cowhides used.
Footballs varied in thickness and quality
and the leather often degraded during the
match.