LOAD OF BALLS

Early footballs ranged from human heads, stitched up cloth, animal and human skulls to pig or cow bladders. The Romans would kick the decapitated heads of their victims and an entire village would kick an animal skull along a path to a nearby “opposing” village square.   A Medieval custom was to take pig bladders used from livestock killed in preparation for winter sustenance and inflate them. They would play a game using their feet and hands to keep the "ball" in the air. The animal bladder balls were eventually covered with leather for better shape retention. In 1836 Charles Goodyear patented vulcanized rubber. Prior to this, balls were dependant on the size and shape of the pig's bladder. The more irregular the bladder, the more unpredictable the behaviour of the ball was when kicked. However; it would not be until the twentieth century until most balls were made with rubber bladders. In 1855, Charles Goodyear designed and produced the first vulcanized rubber soccer balls.  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 shown below: ( a museum I have been to!). In 1863, when the first FA laws were agreed, the size, weight and circumference of the ball was formalised.

Animals get their own back however. There are many cases of animals invading pitches. Jimmy Greaves became a cropper when in a World Cup game against Brazil in 1962 a dog ran onto the pitch and Greavsie, being quick, caught it. It pee’d on him and Garrincha, the very famous Brazilian winger, adopted the mutt after the game.