Ball ( association football ) - wikipedia Ball ( association football ) Adidas Telstar - style ball, with the familiar black and white truncated icosahedron pattern. A football, soccer ball, or association football ball is the ball used in the sport of association football. The name of the ball varies according to whether the sport is called `` football '', `` soccer '', or `` association football ''. The ball 's spherical shape, as well as its size, weight, and material composition, are specified by Law 2 of the Laws of the Game maintained by the International Football Association Board. Additional, more stringent, standards are specified by FIFA and subordinate governing bodies for the balls used in the competitions they sanction. Early footballs began as animal bladders or stomachs that would easily fall apart if kicked too much. Improvements became possible in the 19th century with the introduction of rubber and discoveries of vulcanization by Charles Goodyear. The modern 32 - panel ball design was developed in 1962 by Eigil Nielsen, and technological research continues today to develop footballs with improved performance. The 32 - panel ball design was soon overcome by 24 - panel balls as well as 42 - panel balls, both of which improved performance compared to before, in 2007. A black - and - white patterned truncated icosahedron design, bought to prominence by the Adidas Telstar, has become an icon of the sport. Many different designs of balls exist, varying both in appearance and physical characteristics. Contents 1 History 1.1 Vulcanisation 1.2 Reasons for improvement 1.3 Present developments 1.4 Future developments 2 Construction 3 Suppliers 3.1 FIFA World Cup 3.2 League balls 4 Unicode 5 See also 6 References 7 External links History Leather ball used in the football tournament at the 1936 Summer Olympics. In the year 1863, the first specifications for footballs were laid down by the Football Association. Previous to this, footballs were made out of inflated leather, with later leather coverings to help footballs maintain their shapes. In 1872 the specifications were revised, and these rules have been left essentially unchanged as defined by the International Football Association Board. Differences in footballs created since this rule came into effect have been to do with the material used in their creation. Footballs have gone through a dramatic change over time. During medieval times balls were normally made from an outer shell of leather filled with cork shavings. Another method of creating a ball was using animal bladders for the inside of the ball making it inflatable. However, these two styles of creating footballs made it easy for the ball to puncture and were inadequate for kicking. It was not until the 19th century that footballs developed into what a football looks like today. Vulcanisation In 1838, Charles Goodyear introduced vulcanized rubber, which dramatically improved the football. Vulcanisation is the treatment of rubber to give it certain qualities such as strength, elasticity, and resistance to solvents. Vulcanisation of rubber also helps the football resist moderate heat and cold. Vulcanisation helped create inflatable bladders that pressurize the outer panel arrangement of the football. Charles Goodyear 's innovation increased the bounce ability of the ball and made it easier to kick. Most balls of this time had tanned leather with eighteen sections stitched together. These were arranged in six panels of three strips each. Reasons for improvement During the 1900s, footballs were made out of rubber and leather which was perfect for bouncing and kicking the ball ; however, when heading the football ( hitting it with the player 's head ) it was usually painful. This problem was most probably due to water absorption of the leather from rain, which caused a considerable increase in weight, causing head or neck injury. By around 2017, this had also been associated with dementia in former players. Another problem of early footballs was that they deteriorated quickly, as the leather used in manufacturing the footballs varied in thickness and in quality. Present developments Adidas Torfabrik football used in the Bundesliga in 2011 Elements of the football that today are tested are the deformation of the football when it is kicked or when the ball hits a surface. Two styles of footballs have been tested by the Sports Technology Research Group of Wolfson School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering in Loughborough University ; these two models are called the Basic FE model and the Developed FE model of the football. The basic model considered the ball as being a spherical shell with isotropic material properties. The developed model also utilised isotropic material properties but included an additional stiffer stitching seam region. Future developments Companies such as Umbro, Mitre, Adidas, Nike, Select and Puma are releasing footballs made out of new materials which are intended to provide more accurate flight and more power to be transferred to the football. Construction Today 's footballs are more complex than past footballs. Most modern footballs consist of twelve regular pentagonal and twenty regular hexagonal panels positioned in a truncated icosahedron spherical geometry. Some premium - grade 32 - panel balls use non-regular polygons to give a closer approximation to sphericality. The inside of the football is made up of a latex bladder which enables the football to be pressurised. The ball 's panel pairs are stitched along the edge ; this procedure can either be performed manually or with a machine. The size of a football is roughly 22 cm ( 8.65 inches ) in diameter for a regulation size 5 ball. Rules state that a size 5 ball must be 68 to 70 cm in circumference. Averaging that to 69 cm and then dividing by π gives about 22 cm for a diameter. The ball 's weight must be in the range of 410 to 450 grams ( 14 to 16 oz ) and inflated to a pressure of between 0.6 and 1.1 standard atmospheres ( 8.8 and 16.2 psi ) at sea level. There are a number of different types of football balls depending on the match and turf including training footballs, match footballs, professional match footballs, beach footballs, street footballs, indoor footballs, turf balls, futsal footballs and mini / skills footballs. Suppliers See also : List of FIFA World Cup official match balls, List of UEFA European Championship official match balls, List of AFC Asian Cup official match balls, and List of Olympic Football official match balls Many companies throughout the world produce footballs. The earliest balls were made by local suppliers where the game was played. It is estimated that 55 % of all footballs are made in Sialkot, Pakistan, with other major producers being China and India. As a response to the problems with the balls in the 1962 FIFA World Cup, Adidas created the Adidas Santiago -- this led to Adidas winning the contract to supply the match balls for all official FIFA and UEFA matches, which they have held since the 1970s, and also for the Olympic Games. They also supply the ball for the UEFA Champions League which is called the Adidas Finale. FIFA World Cup Main article : FIFA World Cup official match balls In early FIFA World Cups, match balls were mostly provided by the hosts from local suppliers. Records indicate a variety of models being used within individual tournaments and even, on some occasions, individual games. Over time, FIFA took more control over the choice of ball used. Since 1970 Adidas have supplied official match balls for every tournament. League balls The following lists the most up - to - date balls used in various club football competitions : Ball League Name Voit Liga MX Nike Merlin Premier League Adidas Torfabrik Bundesliga Nike Merlin La Liga Derbystar Brillant APS KNVB Eredivisie Puma King Ball Primera Division Golty Categoría Primera A Nike Ordem Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Nike Merlin Serie A Uhlsport Elysia Ligue 1 Adidas Argentum Argentine Primera División Nike Merlin Russian Premier League Nike Merlin Primeira Liga Nike Incyte Süper Lig Adidas Telstar 18 Superleague Greece Nike Maxim Liga I Adidas Telstar 18 J1 League Adidas Telstar 18 K League Classic Puma Parva Liga Adidas Telstar 18 Ekstraklasa Adidas Telstar 18 Adidas Nativo / Major League Soccer Nike Ordem 5 Chinese Super League Nike Incyte A-League Nike Ordem 5 I - League Molten VG - 5000A United Football League Adidas Brazuca Eliteserien Adidas Finale UEFA Champions League Select Brilliant Super Belgian First Division A Select Brilliant Super Danish Superliga Select Brilliant Super Veikkausliiga Select Brilliant Super Allsvenskan Voit / National Premier Soccer League Nivia Ashtang Indian Super League Nike Ordem 3 NWSL 2016 National Women 's Soccer League Nike Ordem 3 Saudi Premier League Dong Luc Group Galaxy UHV 2.07 V. League 1 Grand Sport Group Primero Mundo 5 Thai League 1 Mitre Delta Max Singapore Premier League Mitre Delta National Football League Mitre Delta Hyperseam Women 's Premier League Mitre Delta Hyperseam Women 's National League Mitre Delta Max Emirates FA Cup Mitre Delta Max English Football League Mitre Delta Max EFL Cup Mitre Delta Max SSE Women 's FA Cup Mitre Delta Max The FA Women 's Super League Mitre Delta Max The FA Women 's Championship Mitre Delta Max FFA Cup Mitre Delta SPFL Scottish Professional Football League Mitre Delta V12 National Premier Soccer League Mitre Delta WPL Welsh Premier League Unicode Unicode 5.2 introduces the glyph ⚽ ( U + 26BD SOCCER BALL ), representable in HTML as & # 9917 ; or & # x26BD ;. The addition of this symbol follows a 2008 proposal by Karl Pentzlin. See also Ball ( Gridiron football ) Football ( ball ) References Jump up ^ Kotschick, Dieter ( 2006 ). `` The Topology and Combinatorics of Soccer Balls : When Mathematicians Think about Soccer Balls, the Number of Possible Designs Quickly Multiplies ''. American Scientist. 94 ( 4 ) : 350 -- 357. access - date = requires url = ( help ) Jump up ^ Hong, Sungchan ; Asai, Takeshi ( 29 May 2014 ). `` Effect of panel shape of soccer ball on its flight characteristics ''. Scientific Reports. 4 ( 1 ). doi : 10.1038 / srep05068. access - date = requires url = ( help ) Jump up ^ football World -- Early History Archived 16 June 2006 at the Wayback Machine. ( Accessed 9 June 2006 ) ^ Jump up to : Price, D.S., Jones, R. Harland, A.R. 2006. Computational modeling of manually stitched footballs. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers -- Part L -- Journal of Materials : Design & Applications. Vol. 220 Issue 4, p259 - 268. ^ Jump up to : Materials Science and Engineering : A Volume 420, Issues 1 -- 2, 25 March 2006, Pages 100 -- 108 ^ Jump up to : Viscoelasticity of multi-layer textile reinforced polymer composites used in footballs. Journal of Materials Science. Volume 43, Number 8 / April 2008. 2833 -- 2843. Jump up ^ `` Oldest Soccer Ball ''. soccerballworld.com. 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2013. Jump up ^ Analysis by Bazian Edited by NHS Choices. `` Heading footballs ' linked to brain damage in professional players ' ''. NHS.UK. Retrieved 2018 - 03 - 21. Jump up ^ Nicola Davis. `` Footballers could be at risk of dementia from blows to the head, study suggests Sport ''. The Guardian. doi : 10.1007 / s00401 - 017 - 1680 - 3. Retrieved 2018 - 03 - 21. Jump up ^ football World -- 2000 and Beyond ( Accessed 9 June 2006 ) Jump up ^ `` World 's First Intelligent Soccer Ball Receives FIFA Recognition ''. PR Newswire. Retrieved 2015 - 07 - 21. Jump up ^ Eastaway, Rob ; Haigh, John ( 2005 - 10 - 15 ). `` Balls ; and why theyare n't quite spherical ''. How to Take a Penalty : The Hidden Mathematics of Sport. Robson. pp. 4 -- 5. ISBN 9781861058362. Jump up ^ `` Laws of the Game 2017 / 2018 '' ( PDF ). Jump up ^ Soccer Balls, Soccer, 2013 - 10 - 14. Retrieved : 2013 - 10 - 14. Jump up ^ `` Best soccer ball brands ''. Soccer Gear HQ. Jump up ^ wright, tom ( 28 April 2010 ). `` A Soccer Sore Point ''. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 28 June 2014. Jump up ^ The Blizzard : Issue 6. 2012. ISBN 978 - 1 - 908940 - 06 - 3. Archived from the original on 27 August 2012. Jump up ^ football World -- Team Geist ( Accessed 9 June 2006 ) Jump up ^ Platt, Oli. `` FIFA World Cup balls : From the Tango to the Jabulani Goal.com ''. goal.com. Retrieved 25 June 2018. Jump up ^ `` Miscellaneous Symbols Range : 2600 -- 26FF '' ( PDF ). Unicode Consortium. 2009. Retrieved 2010 - 03 - 14. Jump up ^ Pentzlin, Karl ( 2 April 2008 ). `` Proposal to encode a SOCCER BALL symbol in Unicode '' ( PDF ). Retrieved 2010 - 03 - 14. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Association football balls. New York Times interactive feature on the evolution of the world cup ball van Rheenen, Erik ( 16 August 2013 ). `` Why Are Soccer Balls Made of Hexagons ? ''. Mental Floss. Retrieved 16 August 2013. Laws of the Game ( rules of association football ) Terms Law 1 : The Field of Play Law 2 : The Ball Law 3 : The Number of Players Law 4 : The Players ' Equipment Law 5 : The Referee Law 6 : The Other Match Officials Law 7 : The Duration of the Match Law 8 : The Start and Restart of Play Law 9 : The Ball In and Out of Play Law 10 : The Method of Scoring Law 11 : Offside Law 12 : Fouls and Misconduct Law 13 : Free kicks ( direct and indirect ) Law 14 : The Penalty Kick Law 15 : The Throw - In Law 16 : The Goal Kick Law 17 : The Corner Kick Comparisons Football and rugby union Football and futsal IFAB The Football Association Scottish Football Association Football Association of Wales Irish Football Association FIFA Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ball_(association_football)&oldid=856026521 '' Categories : Association football equipment Ball ( association football ) Laws of association football Inflatable manufactured goods Hidden categories : Pages using citations with accessdate and no URL Webarchive template wayback links EngvarB from May 2013 Use dmy dates from May 2013 All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from October 2017 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Azərbaycanca Беларуская Беларуская ( тарашкевіца ) ‎ Български Bosanski Dansk Deutsch Ελληνικά Español Français 한국어 Հայերեն Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית Қазақша Lietuvių Magyar Nederlands 日本 語 Oʻzbekcha / ўзбекча Polski Português Română Русский Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska தமிழ் ไทย Türkçe Українська اردو Tiếng Việt 28 more Edit links This page was last edited on 22 August 2018, at 11 : 15 ( UTC ). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: what football do they use in the premier league
Answer: Nike Merlin