Spheres Of Influence: Placing the humble football firmly on the centre spot

Thousands of books have been written about football and yet an in-depth examination
of the spherical object – the football itself – without which the playing of the game would be impossible, has been much less of a focus for football-obsessed authors.

Spheres of Influence fills that gap. Highlighting the importance of the invention of the rubber
bladder in the 1850s, the book traces the development of the ball through to 1970. This period was the true Golden Age of footballs, an era during which dozens of manufacturers competed in a vibrant market, and fads and fashions came and went.

But there’s more to the story than that. As the ball is followed along its path to perfection, time is also taken to explore the part it has played in a wide variety of spheres – from warfare to the arts, politics to humour and many more.

Crammed full of facts, anecdotes, stories and quotations, lavishly illustrated with photographs, rarely seen adverts and cartoons, the book places the ball on a pedestal, an object to be revered and worshipped.