The 16th century football: 450 year old sports technology assessed by modern standards

In 16th century, a football found its way into the rafters of a room of Stirling Castle in the heart of Scotland. Roughly 450 years later, the ball was discovered undisturbed and it remains the oldest known object of its kind in the world. The distinctive leather panels and stitching surround and protect an inflated pig's bladder in a construction with clear ancestral ties to the current football. Modern footballs, especially those used for elite level competition, must pass a series of tests relating to performance and durability to ensure that the style and level of play remain consistent through a match and from year to year around the world. A study was undertaken to assess the 16th c. football based on modern metrics, specifically those outlined by FIFA (circumference, sphericity, COR, water absorption, weight, pressure loss, shape/size retention). A modern FIFA-Approved football was compared with the historically accurate replica (including pig's bladders when possible), which was constructed and provided by the custodians of the original 16th c. football. The 16th c. ball was also configured with a modern latex bladder for a separate series of trials to explore the benefits of synthetic materials over a completely organic football. Based on the results, inferences were made about the style of play, supporting some of what is known about the game once banned by King Henry