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Posted 20 hours ago

adidas Uniforia Club Ball

£29.47£58.94Clearance
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About this deal

By 2016, when adidas launched the Beau Jeu, the official match ball for EURO 2016, after an 18-month testing period, top-of-the-range balls boasted six identical panels, thermally bonded to provide a seamless surface, and the promise of a predictable trajectory, better touch and low water uptake.

The UEFA Champions League Star Ball appeared for the first time in 2001 – true to its name, it was adorned by eight stars, a design that has remained consistent through to 2020's unveiling of the Finale Istanbul. It was not until 1 January 1996 that UEFA implemented FIFA-endorsed quality controls for the balls used in international competitions. Footballs were then divided into three quality groups: FIFA-approved, FIFA-inspected, and International Matchball Standard. All footballs had to pass six quality controls – seven in the case of top-class footballs. In the same decade, the Premier League in England introduced a uniform official match ball. Soon other club competitions were following suit. Slight variations in those early designs survived into the television era, though white balls had been trialled as early as 1951, with orange balls also used the same year for matches taking place in snowy conditions.The modern ball is said to gain just 0.2% weight in wet conditions, compared with up to 20% in the days of the old leather editions. The future promises further advancement. In late 2019, adidas confirmed its balls "delivered by the NASA-contracted SpaceX CRS-18 cargo mission earlier this year have been tested in a series of experiments aimed to extend understanding of flight characteristics beyond an Earth-based wind tunnel. Depth in spherical aerodynamics will enable more design freedom for panel shape and texture." When I was a boy, the ball was like a treasure. The boy with the ball was the king of the playground."

At EUROs, the first truly significant design change since the 1980s came in 2004: this was the introduction of the first seamless ball, the Roteiro, for the finals in Portugal. Between these two extremes are almost 60 years of man-made ingenuity. The transformation in ball technology since adidas produced the first tournament ball, the Telstar, has been remarkable, and so too its impact on the game itself. From the Telstar and Tango through the first entirely non-leather designs of the mid-80s to the products we see today, footballs have grown ever lighter and faster.

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Since 2006/07 there has been an official adidas match ball used at every UEFA Champions League fixture throughout the season. The Europa League also has its own specially designed ball, previously made by adidas but now produced by Molten since 2018. It was a silver-coloured ball whose carcass, bladder and panels were connected by thermal bonding, with each match ball at the tournament personalised with the names of the teams playing, the date and the venue. Over four million were sold worldwide, from mini-balls to official match ball.

Before that, it was common practice for away teams to spend the days leading up to a match training with the ball used by their opponent. If, of course, they could find out what it was. Unlike leather, polyurethane is flexible and does not stiffen in cold conditions. The 1984 European Championship in France was the first major tournament to showcase a wholly non-leather ball, and two years later, the first such synthetic World Cup ball – the Azteca México – was deployed at the finals. It was used at the 1968 European Championship before becoming the first adidas World Cup ball two years later at Mexico 1970. The model for the 1974 World Cup in West Germany featured the introduction of a Durlast polyurethane coating which provided waterproofing and helped maintain the ball's shape and resistance against abrasion.

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