Your favourite football

[Duffer_]

I have memories of a white plastic ball, sold in newsagents in the late 1970s/early 80s. It was a decent weight, pannelled like a leather ball but a bit kinder to the young foot. Heavy enough to be able to generate power but soft enough to manipulate it. It was my favourite football of all time and a massive step up from penny floaters. At the same time the Tango was launched. A beautiful ball but not very practical or cost effective for the playground.

I played on blaize for a while so the balls had to be durable, more like basketballs in texture. Not pleasant - real toe bruisers. Later on my kids had a couple of much maligned Jabulanis but we really liked them until the bushes swallowed them. There is always a healthy debate in junior football as to what is the best type of football to develop skills but I think the correct pressure is just as important.

Which footballs evoke strong memories for you, and why?

[Grimsdale]

Could it be the white version of the Wembley Trophy?


Here's the more famous orange version, spent many an hour on the back streets of Burnley with one of these:

[Duffer_]

Could it be the white version of the Wembley Trophy?

Hahah...I'm sure it is. My lifelong curiosity answered by the first reply

Cheers!

[Duffer_]

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Actually, you put me on to the Wembley Trophy, which I googled, and I think it was the posh version that I loved.

[martin_p]

Could it be the white version of the Wembley Trophy?


Here's the more famous orange version, spent many an hour on the back streets of Burnley with one of these:

I remember playing in the school playground with those. Do kids still play footy in the school playground at break times? It was the only thing we ever did (except it was cricket after the footy season finished and making those ice slide things when it was too icy).

[Fenwick]

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If you took it to school, it ended up like this

[Duffer_]

If you took it to school, it ended up like this

Somebody had to though, otherwise it was tennis balls off the roof.

[Wile E Coyote]

frido master 5

[ElectroClaret]

Gotta be the famous 1970 World Cup ball with the black and white hexagonal panels.
Iconic ball.

If the frido ball popped, you could sometimes mend it with a fag end.

[superdimitri]

Was a luxury to play with this ball with all the usual crap we played with.

[Buxtonclaret]

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13s/6d that, in 1965
Bid beyond my pocket money.

[Siddo]

The best ball was the Frido A. 5 bob from most news paper shops . Excellent weight, flew true when struck and you could bend it like Garrincha with the outside of your foot.
Also, the pimples made it brilliant for keepers to catch without gloves.
Best all round plastic ball ever.

[BenWickes]

Crikey! Some memories on here. Remember owning all apart from the Ultimax. My uncle owned a plastics firm which built the casings for the Sony portable TV's back in the 80's. His company was commissioned by the football league at the time, to build a prototype ball that wouldn't puncture. He showed us the prototype (somewhere around 1982/3 ish) and sure enough it wouldn't puncture as it was entirely made of plastic but it was way too heavy. Wouldn't have liked heading that ball. It had the density of the old leather balls. No surprise it didn't take off.

[Jimmymaccer]

I was about 12 when my dad sponsored the match ball Clarets v Crystal Palace........a few days after he sent me down to the Turf to collect it, signed by both BFC and Palace..........I just stood outside The Turf at the old players entrance dreaming of being a player..........sadly that dream never came true but just for a very brief moment.......I was there!

Kept it in its box ......until I discovered my own son when he was aged about 10 playing footy with his mates with it, having punctured it on a barbed wire fence with the signatures all getting rubbed off!!!!

I remember those orange Wembley balls, bounced everywhere and hurt like hell when whacked at you!

[Vintage Claret]

You lot got to play wi a proper ball? Luxury!

In my day, we had to make do wi an old newspaper scrunched into a round shape and tied wi string

[Herts Clarets]

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I had one of these, must have been very early 80s. I remember it being used in the 1980 League Cup final Forest V Wolves

[dushanbe]

Back in the late 70s and 80s if you had one of these you were never last pick.

[Foulthrow]

Two words.

Mitre.

Delta.