“But Derrick, you don’t even like football”

“These Rodders are state of the art, they’ve got a grip and groove texture on the surface that gives unmatched flight characteristics, it’s the most stable and most accurate Adidas ball ever.”

“How do you know that Derrick?”

“It says so on the box Roddney you plonker.”

“Let me have a look at those. These are a bit heavy aren’t they?”

“That’s what gives them their extra stability Rodders, they’re proper cushty! These things are going to sell like hot cakes, they’re sold by Nelson Mandela!”

“Derrick, we live in Nelson Mandela Towers, that’s not the same thing.”

“This time next year Rodders, we’ll be millionaires! Luvley Jabulani!”

“Del, these are rugby balls.”

—

Buy an Adidas Jabulani, or an Adidas Jabulani Replica (But not from the Trotters! )

Watch the Adidas Jabulani being made.

Nike Ascente football

Hot on the heals of Adidas and their new UEFA footballs, Nike have announced their new T90 Ascente, which is the official match ball for The FA Premier League, La Liga & Serie A.

It boasts:

• 360 Degree Sweetspot
• Longer Range
• Increased Visibility
• Higher accuracy
• Greater speed

but what does all that mean? Well the 360 degree sweetspot means that wherever you hit the ball it’s performance is consistent, which is kind of what you’d expect unless you buy one of those weighted joke balls.

Longer range, the T90 Ascente can travel 2 WHOLE ball lengths further than the Nike Omni … so watch out for those windows behind the nets!

Increased visibility, the pattern on the ball apparently creates a flicker effect that means you can see from all over the pitch. Which would be a good thing.

Higher accuracy, these bad boys have been tested in wind tunnels and the air flows much more smoothly across the surface of the ball, it also dips more sharply over defensive walls.

The T90 Ascente flies a whole 2.4% faster than the old Omni, and I’m going to choose the balls 3 layers as the culprit for this blazing increase.

If you’d like to buy one, they’re £84.99 from Kitbag.com

Firstly, Adidas have design this football for the Supercup Final which is to take place in Monaco on August 28th between Barcalona & Shaktar Donesk.

If you look closely at the ball, it’s pimpled, a bit like a golf ball but bumpy instead if dimples. This comes from the PSC-Texture material that makes up the balls surface and is designed to give players more control in all types of weather. If you know anywhere where you can buy this ball, please leave a comment below …

Adidas will also supply the match ball for the new UEFA Europa League, again this ball features PSC-texture and it’s goose bumps, for increased power and swerve (and control)

The ball will be used in all rounds of the inaugural Europa League, and can be had for £74.99 from Kitbag.com or you can buy a cheaper version without all the fancy bumps and lumps for under a tenner

Finally, the new ball for the 2009/2010 Champions League, again it features that PSC-Texture stuff you’ve heard a lot about recently (well, in the last 3 paragraphs) and offer players optimum grip between the ball and your boot (and power and swerve, and control)

There’s a replica of this ball available for £14.99 as well as team branded ones for Real Madrid and Liverpool.

Other competitions have also announced their new balls over the past few weeks, and we’ll cover those in the next couple of weeks as the season gets underway.