I wonder if Royals' supporters have noticed anything different about the footballs used, now that they are in the
Premiership? Reading Football Club players certainly have.
Striker Kevin Doyle was featured in the Evening Post at the start of the season, saying how much he was looking forward to playing with the new Premiership ball, unlike his colleague, goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann. Hahnemann will no doubt be even less impressed after being beaten by two, heart-breaking, goal winning strikes from Newcastle and Blackburn players. Although they happened as a result of errors by Reading players, both were long shots that swerved in the air. Reading's goalkeeper is not the only one to suffer. Television replays from behind the goal at many Premiership games show how much the ball moves.
There have been suggestions, that these new balls are lighter but that is not possible. The Laws of the Game lay down five
'Qualities and Measurements' that all balls must comply with and one of these is weight. A ball must weigh not less than 14oz
nor more than 16oz or, as our young referees will tell you, 410g to 450g.
What makes the difference is the construction of the ball. The law says the ball must be 'made of leather or other suitable material'. We are not told what other materials are considered suitable and as referees we rely on the ball bearing one of three designations, FIFA Approved (the lowest), FIFA Inspected or International Standard Matchball.
The leather ball of my youth, of course, became very heavy when wet and FIFA now have another measurement when granting approval and that is water absorption to avoid
this problem. Today virtually no balls are made of leather but of synthetic leather and, when you know that companies like Bayer have input, you can understand that a great deal of chemical know-how goes into football manufacture today.
Its performance is also influenced by its design. The ball used in the Premiership is the Nike Geo Merlin Vapor Ball. Geo is short for Geo Balanced Technology, which is designed to reduce drag and make the ball travel faster. Nike actually boast that their ball is 'a goalkeeper's nightmare'. I'm sure that Marcus Hahnemann will ascribe to that.
One question I have been asked by Royals' supporters since they joined the Premiership, is about 'multiple balls'. In the Championship, whenever a ball went out of play, a nearby ball boy (or girl) had another one ready to throw back. This saved
time-wasting by players waiting for the ball to be returned and goalkeepers taking a long time to retrieve it at goal kicks when their team was one goal up
This change was highlighted in a match this season at the Madejski Stadium when Reading assistant coach, Kevin Dillon was banished from the technical area. His 'crime' was trying to retrieve a ball from the opponents dug-out, where they were holding on to the ball when leading 1-0, rather than throw it back for a Reading throw-in.
I noticed on holiday in France this year that multiple balls are used in top French leagues and of course they were used at the World Cup. So why not in the Premiership? Keith Hackett,
referees' supremo for the Premiership, tells me that it was withdrawn from the Premiership with the full approval of club managers, although lower divisions of the league decided to keep the system. The reason for its withdrawal was abuse of the system by some clubs. For example, when a club was leading, they would withdraw the ball boys. Another of many examples, was someone throwing another ball on to the field when opponents were attacking their goal. It seems a pity that because of misdemeanours by a few, all spectators are denied this speeding up of the game and more football for their money.
Dick Sawdon Smith
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© R Sawdon Smith 2007