footy-boots.com have a great article on the evolution of footy boots and the science of soccer, they’ve also got a great video featuring Alex Sass from football boot new boys Under Armour.
So check out their post and watch the video, well worth 3:38 of your time.
UEFA have extended their deal with Adidas who will now supply match balls for all 3 club cup competitions that UEFA run.
Firstly, Adidas have design this football for the Supercup Final which is to take place in Monaco on August 28th between Barcalona & Shaktar Donesk.
In my last article I covered the history of goal line technology, and how despite the best efforts of various FAs and manufacturers, FIFA still refuse to entertain any encroachment of technology onto the pitch.
In March 2008 the IFAB
Why does IFAB hold such a fear of technology? Ever since it’s inception the IFAB has maintained that the appeal of football is it’s simplicity (despite what they did to the offside law) and that any introduction of technology complicates the game.
They also insist that the rules must be able to be applied at all levels of the game, and any technology must be able to be used right from the very top of the game to the bottom. However as any Sunday League player will tell you, they struggle to get a referee most weeks, and use spectators for linesmen, never mind finding another 2 officials to watch behind the goals, which is the current solution preferred by IFAB (or FIFA and it’s 4 IFAB votes at least). This idea will be tested during the 2009/10 Europa League where each match will have a total of 6 referees!
FIFA president, Sepp Blatter remains firm on his organizations anti-technology stance:
“We are too conservative and behind technology but we’re not so far behind tennis,” said Blatter. “In tennis, you stop the game. In football the game goes on, it never stops.”
It’s all too easy to pick holes in that argument, because football does stop. After every contentious decision players crowd the referee, arguing, shouting and intimidating him, it would take a lot less time to resolve it via a video replay. It works well for Rugby which is just a free flowing as football.
After 8 years, almost 400 games, over 400 hours on the pitch, my faithful boots have quit on me, the stitching on the heal has gone, the inner front part of each boot has worn smooth and there’s no easy way to say this … they stink. This is the story of my hunt for a new pair of astroturf boots.
My current boots are made by Adidas, who knows what model they are though, that wore off years ago, but they are (were) half red and half black, and I’m looking for something similar, definitely nothing in pink or orange or stitched together from leftover bits left around the factory.
http://footy-boots.com and their sponsor Kitbag have launched the 2009 Football Boot Awards. Voting is open now and there are great prizes to be won, but voting only lasts for 2 weeks, so hurry.
This years categories include “Populist Football Boot of the Year”, “Outrageous Football Boot of the Year”, “Safest Football Boot of the Year”, “Most Innovative Feature”, “Panel Football Boot of the Year” which is decided by footy-boots.com panel of experts and finally, a non-boot related category “Football Shirt of the Year”
Hurry though, the voting ends on August 2nd.
Whenever you ask someone about technology in football, the first thing someone mentions is goal line technology, so lets get it out of the way with a short series on the subject, and then we can get on with the real gadgets.
Controversial incidents are nothing new in football, and they usually involve England one way or another. They’re certainly involved in the 2 most famous incidents, the 1966 World Cup Final is probably best known for Geoff Hurst’s 3rd goal and in 1986 England were knocked out of the world cup by Argentina after Diego Maradona’s Hand of God goal (But then he went and did this …)