In the news last week there was a postscript to the sad death earlier this year of
former West Bromwich Albion and England centre-forward, Jeff
Astle. His early
death was due to a brain injury caused it was thought by continual heading of the
old leather ball. Some also claim that a disproportionate percentage of ex-professional footballers suffer from
Alzheimer's disease for the same reason.
Certainly in my earlier days the footballs were a world apart from what we
play with today. The leather would soak up the wet making it increasingly heavy
as the game wore on. Referees had to make sure the lace was tucked in safely.
The balls had an internal bladder and to pump one up, you had to undo the lace
and pull out the tube on top of the bladder. After pumping it up, the tube had to
be tied to prevent it leaking and then the ball relaced.
I still have one of those balls, from the days I ran the Reading
Referee's football team, together with the
lacer which resembles a large needle. It was easy to puncture the inflated ball
with the lacer when lacing it up.
Another problem referees found with the old footballs was that panels often
came unstitched, making them dangerous if headed. Whether this was due to the
balls getting very wet or the quality of the stitching I don't know. Of course it
could be because local football clubs couldn't afford to buy new balls very often,
so the old ones had to last until they wore out.
Today, these problems don't exist. I can't remember the last time I rejected a
ball because of faulty stitching. Balls are inflated through a valve flush with the
surface. Despite the cost of modem balls, clubs usually have more than one at a
match, although not always correctly inflated. This is why I and many
referees carry a pump, in case clubs have forgotten to bring one.
As far as I know, football is the only ball game where the match official may vary the condition of
the ball, that is to say, its pressure. The law says that the ball must be of a pressure equal to 0.6 to 1.1 atmosphere,
or from 8.51bs.per square inch to 15.6 lbs per square inch. That is quite a wide
range of pressure. I'm probably right in saying that most referees when given the
match ball, will just give it the old 'two thumb squeeze'.
However more are carrying pressure gauges and some will consider the conditions before
calculating what the pressure should be within the given parameters. For
instance if the surface is hard, better ball control is aided by a lower pressure but
soft conditions can require a ball at nearly full permitted pressure. Some
referees will take out balls of different pressures before the game and test for
feel, roll and bounce.
What are footballs made of today? You may be surprised if you read Law 2,
for it still says the ball must be made of leather or other suitable material. No
one has ever told us what other materials are considered suitable but I believe
that most balls are now made of synthetic leather. Their non-stretch, water
resistent skins make then fly farther and faster. Some have outer casings
incorporating micro gas-filled bubbles to soften heading. For referees, when a
ball bears the words 'FIFA Approved', 'FIFA Inspected' or 'International
Matchball Standard', they know it has been tested and complies with
requirements.
It makes you realise how far ball manufacture has come, when for the last
World Cup, the drug giant Bayer helped design the high tech Adidas ball, which
was said to be the toughest yet most sensitive ever.
Perhaps if that expertise had
been available earlier, Jeff Astle would still be with us.
Dick Sawdon Smith