Some would say soccer is the most popular game in the world; we are not sure about that, but it is definitely one of the oldest. Soccer ball history is in fact the history of soccer. When talking about soccer ball history there are several periods to distinguish. Thus there are the early ball history, the balls in the 1800s, balls in the 1900s, and modern models.

Early soccer ball history goes back to the times before Christ. It is known that people have liked kicking either a ball or something similar to one, since the beginnings of times. South American Indians were among the first to use a form of elastic ball that pre-dated the use of rubber, discovered a thousand years later. The early soccer balls were made of very peculiar materials from animal and human skulls to pig or cow bladders and stitched up cloth. The Chinese used to play a game that involved dribbling a ball through gaps in a net spread between two poles, and this happened as early as 255BC. Ancient Romans and Greeks played a game which involved kicking and carrying a ball, whereas in certain ancient Egyptian rites soccer similarities have been discovered.

Pre-medieval and medieval stories and legends that can be qualified as part of the soccer ball history, also mention the use of animal bladders or skulls to play games similar to modern soccer. An instance of the use of an animal bladder ball is presented in the legend about the ‘game’ between two villages. An entire village ran and kicked a ball with the purpose of getting it into the other village’s square. The other villagers will make similar attempts. In medieval times they used the bladders from animals killed for winter sustenance. Once inflated they would try to keep the ‘ball’ in the air by by means of both feet and hands. In time people noticed that covering the bladder with leather would maintain the shape better and longer.

The soccer ball history of the 1800s bears the influence of the introduction of vulcanized rubber, Charles Goodyear’s invention. In 1855 the same Charles Goodyear managed to create the first vulcanized rubber soccer balls. In 1862 H.J. Lindon developed with a prototype for the first inflatable soccer ball bladders. Although he is the father of the rugby ball too, he did not patent the idea at the time because of the preference for the round ball. By the 1900s the soccer ball history had entered on a different path, bringing these entertainment objects a lot closer to what they are today.