A new exhibition including more than 500 objects -- from equipment, uniforms, badges, photographs, banners, posters and even pieces of stadiums -- illustrates how design has shaped football.
The very first FIFA World Cup final, contested by Uruguay and Argentina in 1930, started with a disagreement: Who would supply the ball?
One of the two match balls used in the 1930 World Cup final, supplied by Argentina and used in the first half."One had 12 panels while the other had 11, and they had slightly different weight and texture because of the difference in paneling and stitching," said Eleanor Watson, lead curator of"Football: Designing the Beautiful Game," a new exhibition at London's Design Museum.
Boots, including several designed specifically for women, are well represented in the lineup of objects, which includes pairs worn by two of the game's most revered players, George Best and Lionel Messi.
A replica of the Hillsborough Memorial Banner, created in 2009 by Peter Carney and Christine Waygood. The original was made in the week following the Hillsborough disaster, a fatal human crush that occurred at a football game in 1989 in Sheffield, UK, causing 97 deaths and hundreds of injuries.A more subtle contribution to the game -- but one that has proven paramount to the identities of players and fans alike -- is that of graphic design.