| The phrase 'play ball' has most probably emerged | | | | weigh 13 to 15 oz, which exists even today in the FIFA |
| from our natural instinct to kick at anything we find lying | | | | rule book. In 1937, the weight was increased to 14 to 16 |
| on the ground, be it paper, plastic or a rubber ball. In the | | | | oz. According to the Encyclopedia of Association |
| olden days, people even kicked heads for fun. The | | | | Football which was first published in 1956, the ball has |
| Chinese in the Ts'in and the Dan dynasties invented | | | | to be spherical with and outer casing of leather or |
| animal skin balls between 255BC -220 AD, which they | | | | other approved materials, while the size and weight |
| dribbled between two poles through gaps in nets. The | | | | has remained constant till date. |
| ancient Egyptians conducted rituals which resembled a | | | | The founding of the English Football League in 1888 |
| football and the Greeks and Romans also played | | | | gave a fillip to the mass production of soccer balls, |
| similar games. | | | | with Mitre and Thomlinson of Glasgow being the first |
| Even the South Americans Indians knew the use of a | | | | two companies to begin manufacturing. Retaining the |
| light elasticized ball. During the pre - medieval times, | | | | shape of the ball was imperative, so good quality |
| people of an entire village took to kicking a skull into the | | | | leather covers were made from the rump of the cow. |
| square of another village, as a favorite past time. The | | | | The 20th Century brought changes in the design as |
| bladder of pigs was inflated and used for playing. | | | | interlocking panels replaced the large leather sections |
| Hence the shape and size of the ball depended on the | | | | that met at the north and south of the ball. |
| pig's bladder, so the trajectory of the ball when kicked | | | | The color of the soccer ball in the 1950s used to be |
| could not be predicted. This habit of kicking slowly saw | | | | orange so as to make it visible while playing on snow. |
| the evolution of the first ever rubber ball in 1855, when | | | | In 1951, the first white ball was played with using |
| Charles Goodyear, after patenting vulcanized rubber, | | | | floodlights. By 1980s, leather was totally replaced by |
| made the first ever rubber ball, which now stands | | | | synthetic material. The present 32 panel soccer ball in |
| displayed at the National Soccer Hall of Fame in | | | | white and black is the invention of Richard Buckminster |
| Oneonta, NY, USA. | | | | Fuller, consisting of 20 hexagonal and 12 pentagonal |
| In 1862, H. J. Lindon, invented the first inflatable rubber | | | | surfaces. This soccer ball was first marketed by |
| bladders for balls. The next year, the newly created | | | | Select in Denmark in the 1950s and the first official |
| football association chalked out the rules of the game. | | | | FIFA world cup soccer ball - the Adidas Telstar was |
| By 1872, it was agreed that the ball would be 'spherical | | | | used in the World Cup at Mexico in 1970. |
| with a circumference of 27 or 28 inches' and would | | | | |