History of the first soccer balls
In this section we will talk about the first soccer balls which were well-known in the history of this sport and the most common and important during the first decades.
Balls from before the 19th Century.
We know very little about soccer balls from before the 19th Century. Some of them could be dated over the Medieval Age. It is said that this ball model was found in the Stirling castle in Scotland, so it could be from 15th or 16th Century. As we can see the ball only had 4 leather panels sewed in a rudimentary way. The ball was surely filled with some kind of sand because that time bladders to be inflated do not exist. The ball was smaller than a current official ball.
Balls from the 19th Century (1800-1850).
During the 19th Century many sports with ball became popular (Soccer/ football, rugby, basket...etc). At the beginning the same ball was used for all these sports. It did not matter the ball's feature for every sport. This model was the most used for all sports from 1800-1850 to 1900. His appearance is almost identical to one of basketball. This model is available in our Store.
Balls from the beginning 20th Century (1900-1910)
This model was one of the first one known on the soccer history. The ball was consisted of 8 long leather panels which joined in two poles of the ball thanks to an octagon panel, as you can see. Of course this model was not use in any World Cup but it is interesting to know how the first soccer balls were like. Available in store.
Balls from 1920 and 1930 decades. The famous T-Shape.
The T-Shape model was used on the first World Cup in Uruguay 1930. It was characterized by the T form of its panels. There were in total 12 T panels. This ball had a sewing with lace to be inflated as you can observe on the picture. On the 1930 championship were used two ball models, the T-Shape and the 12 panels ball (the following model). Available at store.
Balls from the 1940 decade.
This ball is the most famous of all ancient balls of the history because in the most of clubs' shields appears this ball model for example in the Barcelona's shield. The ball was formed by 12 leather panels and it had the typical sewing wiht lace to be inflated. This ball was one of the official ball for the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay. Its fame was so great the ball was used during 40's as well. Available at store.
Balls from the 1950 decade.
In 50's many balls were designed and produced but all of them had a common thing, not more the typical sewing with lace on the ball's surface. In the decade of 1950 the balls had a valve as the current balls, so it was easier to inflate them. About the panels there were balls with 12 and 18 panles. During the World Cup in Brasil 1950 was used a ball with 12 panels, the Superball Duplo T.
Balls from the 1960 decade.
During the 60's more different balls were desinged and produced with different kind of panels but the most common was the 18 cut panels ball. About the desing's balls from that time were tinted in colors like brown, white and even yellow.
Balls from 1970's.
This decade is very important because the Adidas brand appeared, which is the brand that has made the most contributions to the world of the soccer balls. Adidas introduced new designs and new technology for the production of balls. The most importan technical feature was the panels in pentogonal and hexagonal shape, so the balls were more spherical thereafter. About the design, Adidas began to combine colors such as white and black. The most common ball of this decade was the Telstar, the official ball for the 1970 World Cup in Mexico. This ball became the icon of all balls in the history. In this decade the material is still the leather, but it will be the last decade to use it.