1. Early soccer balls were never perfectly round
They
were handmade and leather-wrapped, so they wouldn’t have been as
perfect as the balls we have today. It wasn’t till 1970 that the
32-panel design made balls more spherical.
2. Fewer players performed headers
The heavy leather laces on the balls made headers pretty painful, so it’s likely
that fewer players attempted to head the ball because of this.
3. Black-and-white balls came on in 1970
The black-and-white balls we’re familiar with all started with the Telstar Durlast brought on in the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, and was designed to look more obvious on black-and-white TVs.
4. Teams had to agree on which ball to play with
Every team had a design they preferred, and if two teams couldn’t come to an agreement, some matches ended up with them playing half a match with one ball, and the other half with another choice as a compromise.
5. This year’s ball is thermal bonded
This year’s ball features thermal bonding between the ball’s panels, so as to minimise having seams around it. In theory, a smoother ball will suffer less wind drag and be easier to control by the player.
Impress your friends with these facts when you’re watching the game this weekend! Share this post with the hashtag #WorldCup for your friends on MigMe.
-by vickiho
Source: The New York Times, FastCo Design
They
were handmade and leather-wrapped, so they wouldn’t have been as
perfect as the balls we have today. It wasn’t till 1970 that the
32-panel design made balls more spherical.2. Fewer players performed headers
The heavy leather laces on the balls made headers pretty painful, so it’s likely
that fewer players attempted to head the ball because of this.
3. Black-and-white balls came on in 1970
The black-and-white balls we’re familiar with all started with the Telstar Durlast brought on in the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, and was designed to look more obvious on black-and-white TVs.
4. Teams had to agree on which ball to play with
Every team had a design they preferred, and if two teams couldn’t come to an agreement, some matches ended up with them playing half a match with one ball, and the other half with another choice as a compromise.
5. This year’s ball is thermal bonded
This year’s ball features thermal bonding between the ball’s panels, so as to minimise having seams around it. In theory, a smoother ball will suffer less wind drag and be easier to control by the player.
Impress your friends with these facts when you’re watching the game this weekend! Share this post with the hashtag #WorldCup for your friends on MigMe.
-by vickiho
Source: The New York Times, FastCo Design
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