Modern ball

Modern balls

Main article: Football (ball)

Richard Lindon (seen in 1880) is believed to have invented the first footballs with rubber bladders.

In Europe, early footballs were made out of animal bladders, more specifically pig’s bladders, which were inflated. Later leathercoverings were introduced to allow the balls to keep their shape.[56] However, in 1851,Richard Lindon and William Gilbert, both shoemakers from the town of Rugby (near the school), exhibited both round and oval-shaped balls at the Great Exhibition in London. Richard Lindon’s wife is said to have died of lung disease caused by blowing up pig’s bladders.[57] Lindon also won medals for the invention of the “Rubber inflatable Bladder” and the “Brass Hand Pump”.

In 1855, the U.S. inventor Charles Goodye