FootballFilter

Is it just me or is Lawro’s questionable hair cut becoming even more questionable?  The front has developed into something that once could be called a fringe into some kind of blond skunk patch, for want of a better comparison.  A scally’s tasche is thicker than the fluff covering his forehead…… unfortunately the following photo doesn’t really do my thoughts justice but you get the idea, just tune into MOTD for the latest lowdown or Mark’s hair stylings; for sure it is one the more important issues in the footballing world today in my opinion.  Fuck develpoing grass roots football in England, lets get Lawro a decent and flattering hair cut, whoever is his hair dresser should own up!

 

So for the last couple of weeks the blog hasn’t been a high priority at footballfilter.  This has much to do with me being on holiday than anything but this will change soon, blogs will be back on.  But for the time being I thought I would just give a brief update of what is going on and what we are up to.  Well for the main part we are investing in a developer to make managing the website far easier.  The developer will be setting up a CMS system so that retards like myself can actually manage the pages far easier, I for one am looking forward to it.  Alot of other features will also be worked on by this elusive chap but we will have to wait and see on that one…..

We’ve also been concentrating on the team pages, you may have noticed the poll that went up of late.  I think Arsenal won and this has been duly noted and an Arsenal page is up and running:

http://www.footballfilter.com/arsenal.php 

Next up I think will be West Ham and then Liverpool.  Please feel free to email us at contact@footballfilter.com if you want a particular page sooner rather than later.  Likewise is you want you blog, site etc feeded on our site, get in touch and we will look into it.  We have just added a load of new podcasts, a bit of a favourite by our existing users of footballfilter, so we hope you like the new ones.  Other than that it’s all step by step really.   Once this CMS system is up and running all the pages will start fleshing out into a far better compiled site - like we said before please feel free to contact us with any feedback you have!

Also do any of you use twitter?  We have a page now, follow us if you like!

http://twitter.com/footballfilter

word up and brup brup.

I am in tres nostalgic mood at the moment, looking through my old pro set and my brothers old shoot magazines (which I will do a post about soon) and I started to think about the development of the football over the years.  David James did a similar blog on the guardian quite recently where he complained about the constant changing of the style of balls, mostly for commercial reasons.  Which got me thinking, has anyone really looked into the evolution of the football, like a picture posting or something?  A few sites are dedicated to soccer ball history but I thought I should at least do a brief blog on it on this fine Sunday afternoon, Chelsea just thrashed Portsmouth 4-0 and United are drawing with Newcastle so all is well…..

Mitre, Adidas, Nike and Puma are some of the bigger names in the world of the football.  According to the power that is Wikipedia, the first specifications were defined in 1863 by the Football Association and then adjusted in 1872 and have been the following ever since:

Take from the following link here are the laws of football

http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/lawsofthegame.html:

The ball is:
• spherical
•  made of leather or other suitable material
•  of a circumference of not more than 70 cm (28 ins) and not less
than 68 cm (27 ins)
•  not more than 450 g (16 oz) and not less than 410 g
(14 oz) in weight at the start of the match
•  of a pressure equal to 0.6 – 1.1 atmosphere (600 – 1,100 g/cm2) at sea level (8.5 lbs/sq in – 15.6 lbs/sq in)

Not too many specifics have really been made by the looks of it which explains the dramatic technological evolution of the ball over the last 100 or so years.   You’ll notice in the following photos dramatic change even between the World Cup in 98 and the World Cup in 2002.  But lets start from the beginning:

Now I have skipped 30 odd years but take a look at this ball as a kind of example of the beginnings of football technology.   Taken from the site http://www.asdiansi.com/anball.htm this ball apparently is a 1930s World Cup ball.  Look at the string stitching?  As the ball developed in the 70s-80s the standard came for 32 panel football, also known as a truncated icosahedron football:

Above picture was taken from: <!– @page { size: 21cm 29.7cm; margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } –>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:1970Telstar_2006-08-11.jpg

Not only was the shape of the ball developed over the years as you can see above but the use of leather was altered as time went on.  The idea was to make more water resistant footballs, preventing the ball from getting heavy during rainy games.  This 1970 ball is an absolute classic in my opinion but I think the following ‘Tango’ ball is even better:

Photo take from: http://www.adidas-group.com/en/bizmedia/WorldCup/ball_history/default.asp (great source, check it out).

Not a lot seems to be different between this ball used in the 1982 World Cup in Spain (called the Tango Mundial ball) by the likes of Rossi, Zico, Maradona, Platini and Bryan Robson.  And in fact this ball was the last time a pure leather ball was used in a World Cup.  Even though they had added rubberized seams it still suffered from bad water resistance and the balls often had to be changed a fair few times during games. So this is when the ball started to get shiny….

Now it appears that Adidas have had the rights to the World Cup ball since forever, but meanwhile back in the day to day footballing world of England and the newly formulated ‘Premiership’ Mitre were the Rupert Murdoch tycoons of the soccer ball world.  In 1992 clubs had to use their own match balls but it was then agreed for the next season (and then the following 7 years) that Mitre would be the official match ball providers.  I owned a Mitre ball at some point during the 90s as did everyone else and most local Footy Clubs to, remember these?  The Mitre Promax and the Mitre Ultimax:

These two pictures were taken from the following page:

http://images.sportsshoes.com/product/C/CAR20/CAR20_250_1.jpg

http://www.jorkasport.nl/catalog/images/Mitre%20Ultimax%20Fluo.gif

Next followed the Nike contract for the premiership while in the World Cup Adidas reign supreme, this however was when the amount of panels changed from the old school 32 of the beautiful 90s to the 14 (approx) panels of the +Temgeist by Adidas (also known as a truncated octahedron by nobody) and the Nike Geo Merlin (later the Total 90)

Image taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_(ball)

Image take from: http://www.soccer.com/Images/Catalog/ProductImages/300/243310.JPG

Take that World Cup ball  above for example and then look at the Tricolore ball used at the 1998 World Cup in France (Teamgeist was used at 206):

Image taken from: http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?menu=c10400&no=285661&rel_no=1

The difference is pretty dramatic really no?  The tricolore isnt very far from the balls of the 80s whereas the +Teamgeist is defintely suggesting what direction the scientists are taken the ball for the future.  More shiny and less panels seem to the be the mode de jour.  I imagine the final achievement would be a ball perfectly formed, no panels that still has the weight and control of the balls of old and not like one of those plastic balls you played with at school that moved left and right while in the air.

Personally I don’t know if this development is a good thing, in the last few years the way free kicks have been taken (particularly by the likes of Ronaldo and Juninho) could arguably be linked to the development in football technology.  Of course it has been always been relatively possible to score freekicks like the Ronaldos of today but the way the ball is beginning to move in the air over the last few years definitely appears to more common and I firmly believe this has alot to do with the structure of footballs now.  Of course progression is a good thing, but part of me definitely will miss the Mitres of the 90s with their chubby panels and squeaky shine will always be more appealing than the almost perfectly shapd +Teamgeist.

What are your thoughts and what balls of old do you remember?

Before the premiership existed, when football shirts were cool as shit (well they seem cool to me now in 2008-I predict a fashion wave!) and most players were alcoholics, a trading card called Pro Set pretty much consumed my little 6 year old existence.  But what has happened to them now?!  I can’t for the life of me track them down via the internet.  The only thing I found were a few sites selling the likes of Dion Dublin’s card (at Cambridge at the time) for a quid (which I have) or the entire Arsenal team for a fiver (which I also have - £6 for me boom ting).  There are also the American Football cards knocking around but no site or anything exists from what I can see - have they really gone bust?  Because if they have it is my mission to get the Pro Set card people together, sit them down and make them realise how much money they could be making these days - surely kids would love it, or at 24 am I already out of ‘touch with today’s youth’?

On the back of the folder I found an address which led me to this UEFA website page but unfortunately the number didn’t work - so what I am asking is, if anyone can help us get in contact with Pro Set and find out what happened please let us know by leaving a comment!  This is the address in case someone random reads this and either works there or lives near by:

Pro Set U.K Limited, 87 Wembley Hill Road, Wembley, Middlesex, HA9 8BU

Every month from now on I will post an update on my findings with a couple of players cards scanned for good measure, just like these beauties below:

What I love about these the most tho are the comments and stats on the back, pure nostalgia:

Take Gazza’s for example: “The new superstar of English football, “Gazza” won the hearts of the nation for his performances during the World Cup in Italy.  A player of prodigious talent, he played for Newcastle for three seasons and was the idol of Tyneside.  He signed for Spurs for £2 million in July 1988.  Fills the grounds wherever he plays.”  -pure poetry that is, full of cliched 90s joy, John Motson bread and butter chat if you will, but still quality.

I could quote all 6 of those bad boys but I won’t, however I do think Paul McGrath’s opening line is pure class:

“Regarded as possibly the best central defender in the First Division despite problems of the field” - was there any need to mention his ‘off field’ problems?  So he drank a little bleach now and then, he’s still the Don.

As I said I think these cards will be a regular feature, especially as my chances of getting in contact with Pro Set appears slim but for the time being here’s a few honorary mentions to keep you going til next time:

1. Nigel Spink - ‘reputed to be one of the safest goalkeepers in the game’

2. Cyrille Regis - ‘reared in London’

3. Paul Walsh - ‘A tenancious terrier of a player’ . In fact Paul’ back photo (his hair I mean) is so good he gets the final shot of the blog:

SO please help me bring back Pro Set!

During the Spain v Italy game during the euros i noticed Luca Toni sporting a fetching, if a little gay, tasche.  At the time I thought it was the start of a new revolution, a hark back to the 70s, a time when facial hair was king - I was hoping the likes of Rooney would rock the old bender/handle bar tasche or Robbie Savage fashioning a neat little pencil line tasche, dyed blonde.  But no, the world of fooball has not adopted this new wave:

So I give you tashces of the past - footballing heros who have demonstrated the true power of the lip slug:

Mark Lawrenson:  Debatably the campest man in football, pundit, ex Liverpool legend, often heard referring to players “power”, “dedication” or something suspiciously fruity such as “he’ll do anything you ask of him, in any position”, Lawro was one of the true leaders in tasche fashion, behold below a slug of pure beauty that one wonders why he has gone to the dark side of late and chopped it off (please also note the suspicious hair cut!):

Bruce Grobbelaar: Another Liverpool legend (a common theme perhaps?), Bruce was a true 80s goalkeeping hero.  But he was also convicted of match fixing with Hans Segers (ha) and John Fashnu aka The Fash (ahwooga!).  Nevertheless Bruce is a reliable man of the tasche world, a brother, a strong believer who into his 50s still represents the Lip Hair allegiance with pride - jah bless Bruce, jah bless.

David Seamen:  Arsenal through and through, probably one of the best English goalkeepers of my lifetime (I am 24 by the way) but also well known for getting horribly embarrassed by Ronaldhino’s ‘did he intend to do that’ freekick lob.  Poor lad that will remain with him forever - as will his fuck off tasche and criminal haircut.  Mr Seamen not only desrves recognition for his work in the lip depo but also for holding true to the gayest looking hairdo known to man - that man has invested a lot of Arsenal salary over the years on Timotei and Pantene Pro V I am sure…it’s just so shiny!

Disclaimer:  alas I forgot unfortunately Dave has seen sense of late and actually not longer sports either the tasche or long hair - its more of a L’Oreal curtains type affair - however he did appear of Dancing on Ice (or something like that) so he has transferred the fruitiness from one ‘realm’ to another.

Frank Rijkaard and Rubi Voller:  these two gents rivals, yet brothers in arms of the hirsute world, Frank spat on Rudi, Rudi got pissed yet they still had one thing in common.  If I were Frank I would look back on that with pride yet concern, a quick cahnge into a policmans outfit and he would be a member of the Village People.  While Rudi’s tasche on the other hand is almost a stamp or an emblem if you will of terribe German 80s fashion - Deiner Schnubaart ist vorbei Rudi!

And alas this is where my tribute ends - the list is endless and majestical at the same time.  All men of tasche deserve a mention but that would take me forever so here is my honarary mention list:

1.  Graeme Souness

2. Gary Neville - aka William Shakespeare

3. Rivelino

4. Jimmy Hill

5. Paul McGrath - god bless the bleach drinking man!

Who have I missed? Either comment here or email us at footballfilter@gmail.com

http://www.footballfilter.com

Ordinarily I wouldn’t start my first entry proper writing about Chelsea (being a Chelsea fan), but with the departure of Claude Makelele still fresh in the news and the surprising lack of tributes to his contribution to the premiership I thought it was definitely worth it.

Claude in many senses is just a standard footballer, pretty short, terrible long ball passer and piss poor at shooting - so bad that over the past 5 series of Pro Evo that I have dedicated far too much time to, I’ve managed to score one goal with the cheeky Parisian, ONE, I attempted more, believe me.  But what he lacks in silky skills he makes up in pure tenacity and timing; a defensive midfielder so good that premiership pundits and managers the world over have adopted his name to explain the role more clearly.

Everywhere he’s played Claude has made the midfielders he covers look better, notably Zidane and Lampard.  Granted Zidane doesn’t need anyone to make him look good but Makelele’s departure from Real Madrid really was the end for the Galaticos - Real Madrid didn’t win the league again until 2006 (Claude left in 2003) and are yet to get close to a Champions League final since beating Bayern Leverkusen in 2002.  Don’t get me wrong that Madrid team probably would have won alot without him but his contribution was definitetly appreciated by the likes of Zidane, Figo, Raul and I am sure Lampard would give alot of credit to him for those two amazing seasons he had upon Claude’s arrival - anyone else notice Lampard’s form has dipped since Maka’s inevitable reduction of appearances over the last two years?

The best thing about Makelele’s is how he kept it simple, always there in the right position covering counter attacks, scampering around like a crab, using his body to muscle into tackles and then simply tapping it over to Lampard, Essien and the like to take it forward.  His influence on Chelsea’s set up and attacking style is so big that it will be very strange to see the possible 4-2-2-2 that Scolari supposedly is planning.  But I think my favourite thing about Makelele was his fouling - never have I seen a player get away with so many yellow cards before;  his big teethy grin while putting his hands either together in prayer or open gesture was a typical site while chatting to the ref completely convinced of his own innocence.  I couldn’t find a particularly good example on t’internet but something like this:

And not only is he quality he is also shacked up with one of my favourite ladies; one of the Mark’s and Spencer’s models:

It’s going to be interesting to see how Chelsea work without him to fall back on.  Avram Grant resorted back to him with reasonably good success (unless you define success like Abramovich).  If Felipe resorts to the 4-2-2-2 then it shouldn’t be a problem but with the amount of midfielders Chelsea have this season, its going to be difficult to keep them all happy and play expansive football - resorting back to Claude would always be an amazing luxry regardless of his age.  But who will be the new ‘Makelele’?  I think Hargreaves and Mascherano could be up there - it’ll be interesting to see how Hargreaves does if he stays fit this season while as for Mascherano, he definitely has the potential but it all depends on if Rafa keeps him in regularly and if Alonso goes to Inter.  Even so you will never find the defensive postion being called the ‘Hargreave’, the ‘Mascherano’ or er the ‘Savage’ role will you?  The 2008-09 season is going to be sweet, good luck to Claude, Chelsea will definitely miss him.

Here he is scoring one of  possibly two (?) goals during his Chelsea career: