Soccer invention

Charles Goodyear is considered as the inventor of the modern soccer ball. When and where the very first soccer ball was made is impossible to tell. Soccer-like games have been played since the earliest part of human civilization and the evolution of the game was accompanied by the soccer ball’s development.

The oldest soccer ball can be traced to ancient times (A). It was filled with different materials to make it round. It was in the Middle Age (B) that football balls were first filled with air.

Rapid developments came when soccer reached its modern period (C). Balls made of rubber were being produced and FIFA’s rules on soccer balls were established.

The football balls of current times (D) are radically different from their predecessors. Advanced production technology and materials are being used, and the balls that we play with just keep on getting better and better.

A. Ancient football – the first foot ball in history

The first ever soccer ball in history was invented by ancient civilizations, 3000 years ago. The Chinese, Aztec and Maya Indians, and Egyptians each had their own contributions to the first soccer ball in history.

• The Chinese made their own football with animal skin stuffed together to form a sphere.

• Maya and Aztec Indians in Central America made a rubber ball, which they formed from the latex of rubber wood.

• The Egyptians invented a football made of seeds wrapped in linen. They also made balls out of animal skin or catgut for improved bouncing.

• The Greeks, just like the Egyptians, created a ball wrapped in linen, but it contains hair inside instead of seeds.

B. The soccer ball of the Middle Age

By the Middle Age, football was already established as a popular sport and so more attention was given to the making of the ball. Bladders were the most in Medieval Europe, such as the pig bladder ball played by the Italians in the 1600s.

However, bladder balls were easily punctured and their irregular shape made them difficult to control. To solve these problems, bladder balls were wrapped in leather, making them more durable and rounder.

C. The ball at the beginning of the modern period of football

Football has become a well-recognized sport in the 1800s. It is in this era that professional football began and more attention was given to improving the quality of the ball.