O/R:- The Ball.

I grew up playing with leather balls, and when i played football we used leather balls as well. Anyway, there are countless examples that the ball used now is nothing but a toy.

There was a player yesterday who hit it a shot into the ground and it flew over the bar, how wrong is that. A few weeks ago a player hit the bar, it rebounded and was a yard short of the edge of the area without bouncing.

Keepers have to under hit the ball when taking a goal kick so that the ball doesnt fly over the opposite bar. When these new balls came in the makers boasted that it flew quicker, no doubt about that, you can shoot from anywhere and it will fly like a missile.

The reason this ball is used is that it increases entertainment, couple that with the ban on tackling, defenders just stand and stare, they admire attackers too, it all adds up to a bit of a fix.

The old leather ball could be caressed, curled, top spinned, bent, bounce truly, a true instrument in the hands of a genius. The ball now cant be crossed properly, the arc of delivery is different, a leather ball can go up and down quicker over a shorter distance.

There you go, change is inevitable even for the worse. Getting relegated was a good thing, 11,000 eh. Like Oldham they get 6,000 compared to 2 before. I will be running riot amongst your gals in the city centre soon.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Psaw

I grew up playing with leather balls, and when i played football we used leather balls as well. Anyway, there are countless examples that the ball used now is nothing but a toy.

There was a player yesterday who hit it a shot into the ground and it flew over the bar, how wrong is that. A few weeks ago a player hit the bar, it rebounded and was a yard short of the edge of the area without bouncing.

Keepers have to under hit the ball when taking a goal kick so that the ball doesnt fly over the opposite bar. When these new balls came in the makers boasted that it flew quicker, no doubt about that, you can shoot from anywhere and it will fly like a missile.

The reason this ball is used is that it increases entertainment, couple that with the ban on tackling, defenders just stand and stare, they admire attackers too, it all adds up to a bit of a fix.

The old leather ball could be caressed, curled, top spinned, bent, bounce truly, a true instrument in the hands of a genius. The ball now cant be crossed properly, the arc of delivery is different, a leather ball can go up and down quicker over a shorter distance.

There you go, change is inevitable even for the worse. Getting relegated was a good thing, 11,000 eh. Like Oldham they get 6,000 compared to 2 before. I will be running riot amongst your gals in the city centre soon.

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You’ll find the best ones up in Hyson Green, not so much the city centre. Some of them may even have balls, of which you speak.

Good observations about the new style footballs which are more like beach balls.
Hardly surprising that some players earning thousands a week are woefully poor at crossing the football and picking out a team mate. Another skill lacking from the modern game.
I remember the first plastic coated leather footballs with the coating something like shrink wrapped plastic 😁
Playing in a match on a freezing Saturday in January , I went to charge down a clearance at close range. The clearance struck me on the inner thigh thankfully missing the really tender area 😅
Getting changed the following Saturday the clear outline of the football panels were still apparent amidst the bruising !
An interesting clip on YT of Joe Corrigan , Man City kicking clear out of his hands on a wet muddy pitch. The ball dropped in the centre circle and was immediately volleyed back by West Ham's Ronnie Boyce directly into the goal.
A great goal with a heavy wet leather ball.👏👏

I hear they were very good for alzheimer's!