Lots of Balls…

Since we voiced our concerns about the possible extinction of the classic orange and black 1970s Wembley Trophy ball earlier this week, we have been inundated with them…

We thought every last one of them had bounced under a lorry, or been left to slowly shrink in the garden shed…

Dave Holmes of Sukan Sports provided this catalogue page and told us:
“On seeing this piece on the Wembley Trophy ball today, I was taken back to my Starcraft days.
We bought various balls, including a punchball from Mettoy, and when a delivery arrived I was invariably called to the warehouse, a separate building and about 30 yards from the offices, to help.
Most of the balls were individually in poly bags with a cardboard header card, and then 6 balls in a strong paper sack. The Wembley Trophy however came in an individual cardboard box with large circular holes on 2 sides so that the ball could be seen. Then 6 of these balls were packed in a large cardboard box.
They were obviously not heavy but took up a great deal of space in the warehouse, so the first action on my return to the office was to see if there were any outstanding orders to try and send out as many as possible and reclaim some warehouse space.
The image is from 1979 Starcraft (Metric) catalogue, and also shows the ‘First Division’ and ‘Captain’s’ Ball’.”

“The other big supplier of plastic footballs at this time was Frido, and it was always a question as to which was better Wembley or Frido, or with football boots adidas or Puma, football clothing Umbro or Bukta, and ice creams Walls or Lyons Maid. Life seemed simpler then.”

Another Wembley Trophy popped up on Facebook this week, in this Ladybird books adaptation… ‘scuse the French…