Adidas Telstar
Telstar was a design of association football made by Adidas. It was the official match ball of the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico.[1] The similar Telstar Durlast was one of two official balls, along with the Chile Durlast, of the 1974 FIFA World Cup held in West Germany.[1][2]
The Telstar was the first World Cup ball to use the now-familiar truncated icosahedron for its design, consisting of 12 black pentagonal and 20 white hexagonal panels.[1][2] The 32-panel configuration had been introduced in 1962 by Select Sport,[3][4] and was also used in the official logo for the 1970 World Cup.[5] The black-and-white pattern, to aid visibility on black and white television broadcasts, was also well established before the Telstar.[4][6] The name came from the Telstar communications satellite, which was roughly spherical and dotted with solar panels, somewhat similar in appearance to the football.[1]
The ball was made of leather.[1] The 1974 model's "Durlast" polyurethane coating provided waterproofing as well as protection from damage such as scuffs and tears.[7]
Only 20 Telstars were provided for the World Cup; an estimated 600,000 replicas were sold subsequently.[1] Some 1970 matches were played with a brown ball.[8] The 1974 Chile Durlast was all white.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f "1970 Mexico". The Footballs during the FIFA World Cup. FIFA. http://footballs.fifa.com/Football-Facts/FIFA-World-Cup-Footballs#eztoc717_0_1_11. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
- ^ a b c "The History of the Official World Cup Match Balls". SoccerBallWorld. Rig-Tech Inc. http://www.soccerballworld.com/HistoryWCBalls.htm. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
- ^ "The Story of Select". Select Sport. http://www.select-sport.com/script/site/page.asp?artid=124&cat_id=84. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
- ^ a b Bernsen, Jens (1992). "Vi er røde, vi er hvide" (in Danish and English). Design DK (Dansk Design Centre). ISSN 0906-9194.
- ^ "1970 FIFA World Cup Mexico". Previous FIFA World Cups. FIFA. http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=32/index.html. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
- ^ See Getty Images photos:
- #53324431 1965 European Cup Final
- #3376509 Terry Venables in 1965
- #81398917 New York Champions Cup 1966
- #2887049 1967 European Cup Winners' Cup Final
- ^ "Why Use Durlast Polyurethanes?". Durlast. http://www.durlastitalia.it/Eng/why_use_durlast_polyurethanes.html. Retrieved 19 September 2011.
- ^ See Getty Images photos of matches in the Estadio Nou Camp, Léon:
| Preceded by Challenge |
Official World Cup Ball 1970 and 1974 |
Succeeded by Tango |
