As with all other sports there are many different brands of football available. The leading brands in the UK are Nike mainly due to their use in the Premiership and Mitre due to their use in Leagues and The FA Cup. Good quality balls are available from other manufactures including:
Mitre
Nike
Adidas
Precision Training
I-Pro
Puma
Molten..............the list goes on.
The football used in the Premiership is produced by Nike. The football used in the English Football league up until 2020/21 season was the Delta Hyperseam Pro ball produced by Mitre. This same Mitre ball is also used in the Scottish in a different colour as is the Welsh Premier league. Pume now supply the match balls for the EFL. Molten have supplied the Europa League ball from 2018.
The most popular size footballs generally are sizes 3, 4 and 5. However there are also size 1 and 2 balls available now for younger players.
Size 1 footballs are also called Mini footballs and are suitable for all ages. However they are designed for players up to age 4 to develop football skills
Size 2 footballs are also know as Midi footballs. They are manufactured for young players starting out in football in the age range of 3 to 6 years.
Size 3 is designed for use by players aged 6 years up to and including 9 year olds, (Up to Under 10's). This was changed on 1st June 2020 when the FA introduced new guidance on heading restrictions within football.
Size 4 is designed for players aged 11 to 13 (Under 11,12, 13 and 14's). The ball should weigh between 350g -390g, with a circumference of 63.5cm - 66cm.
Size 5 is designed for use by players aged 14+ (Under 15, 16, 18 and above). The ball should weigh between 410g -450g, with a circumference of 68cm - 70cm.
There are different qualities of footballs including - pro, match, training, recreational and specialist. The most common footballs are match and training balls, with training footballs being the most robust.
The football should be pumped up to the recommended pressure, which is stated on most of the balls. To gain maximum benefit from your football, the pressure should be checked regularly and glycerine should be used to lubricate the valve everytime the ball is inflated.
The size guidance changed on the 1st June 2020 and if you are buying footballs you should definitely watch the size guide video below to ensure you are buying the correct size football. If you found it useful please hit the subscribe button or leave a comment.
When the football is used in wet or damp conditions, after use it should be dried with a towel or dry cloth. The football should never be stored damp as the life span of the ball will be seriously compromised. Never force dry a football with heat, as this tends to crack the outer covering.
Great quality training balls are available from as little at £6.00, with match balls tending to be more expensive. Match balls usually start in the range of £10 and can go up to £120 for the top models.
Both Mitre and Precision Training look to improve their range each year and both have launched new balls for this season. Precision Training's new range of training and match balls were launched in 2017, with the graphics being updated every other year. The training ball is called Fusion and retains the soft touch feel and at this timeis the only training football to have the IMS accreditation . The Fusion football is very popular in schools and clubs across the country and is available in a range of colours.
February 2018 saw the launch of the new range of footballs from Mitre. In most years, a couple of additions are added to the range before old favourites fall away to be replaced by new designs and materials. The 2018 Mitre launch though is completely different. This year saw all of the range updated with 2 new training balls, 3 new match balls and 3 new pro quality footballs too. Since the launch the graphics have been updated once again.
Mitre has retained some of the old names - Impel, Ultimatch and Delta. However the balls have 3 qualities within each level, Good - Better - Best
The Training ball levels were reduced to 2 however, two additional models were subsequently introduced. The best selling balls are Impel and Calcio, which are the same quality, and Calcio Max and Impel Max, which are higher quality training balls.
In the match quality they are known as Ultimatch, Ultimatch Plus and Ultimatch Max.
In the Pro quality level they are called Delta, Delta Plus and Delta Max.
Most of the range has now embraced the Hyperseam technology and all of the balls have either a weave (Vimini), textured or embossed finish, for greater control and touch.
I have produced an info graphic to show how the 2017 balls compare with the current range. Since then the Calcio and Calcio Max have been introduced whilst the Impel Plus has been removed form the range.
When manufacturers launch a new range it has 3 effects
1. It make us really busy creating new images, barcodes and listings on our websites
2. It can give the user an opportunity to purchase the outgoing models, at a discounted price. As retailers make room for the current range.
3. It makes other manufacturers take note, as a new range often means higher quality balls and new standards being set.
Molten have a great range of match footballs that are used in semi professional games and the balls are very good quality at a decent price. The F5V5000 football is the official football for the BUCS games and is fully bonded (similar to the Hyperseam balls). In 2018 Molten launched a whole new range of match and training balls to coincide with their new deal to supply the Europa League match ball. They all have the same graphics as the official ball but vary in quality. The training ball is called the 1000 and then there are various qualities of match ball.
If you want advice on the best way to inflate your Football please see our video below. If you found it useful please hit the subscribe button or leave a comment.
I-Pro have a great range of training footballs to rival the leading brands. The Matrix was a popular ball as it was very similar to the old Mitre Impel balls, which people loved. The Matrix has been relaunched in 2022 and will run alongside the slightly higher quality I-Pro Nova training ball. This has a textured surface and is proving to be just as popular as the Matrix ball.
Mitre and Precision Training both have footballs suitable for Futsal and we currently stock the Mitre Impel Futsal, Mitre Ultimatch Futsal and the Precision Training Sau Paulo both in size 4. We also stock a great indoor ball with a cloth outer known as the Mitre Ultimatch Indoor football, we offer this in size 4 only, which is the most popular size for indoor football.
When new ranges come into stock it often means we may have extra discounts available on the range be phased out. There is nothing wrong with the quality of these balls and are discounted to clear to make space for the new ranges.
