Footballs - Information
we have been manufacturing hand-stitched footballs SINCE 1963. Over time, we have invested a lot of time and energy in the development of new technologies for different ball components to meet our goal of PRODUCING THE BEst football on the market.
Zero-Wing bladder
.Lining
.PU Surface
.Double Lock Valve
.Hand-stitching
.The 32-panel ball construction
Every single DERBYSTAR and SELECT football, handball and futsal ball is based on the revolution of 1962, when Eigil Nielsen, the founder of SELECT, came up with the idea to produce a ball with 32 panels. He was driven by the desire to develop a reliable ball with a predictable, perfect flight and controlled bounce.
It was impossible to produce a perfectly round ball with the then standard 18-panel construction. With the 32 panels, i.e. 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons, Eigil Nielsen managed to create the roundest ball ever. Years later, American scientists discovered that carbon molecules arrange themselves as a perfectly round ball under special irradiation and won a Nobel Prize for this discovery. As Eigil Nielsen of DERBYSTAR|SELECT had already used this know-how years earlier on his footballs, the scientists’ discovery is also referred to as the “football molecule”.
A ball with optimal roundness is essential to ensuring reliable aerodynamics, a straight flight and controlled bounce. Our finest football, the Brillant APS, was tested in a wind tunnel by the Institute of Health and Sports Science at the University of Tsukuba (Japan). The results show that the Brillant APS has better aerodynamic properties than any other top football on the market. Thanks to the ball’s classic 32-panel construction, the ball meets resistance at a later point in its trajectory, resulting in greater, longer-lasting speed with a straighter flight. This makes it easier for players to assess the ball.
All of our balls are still based on Eigil Nielsen’s 32-panel construction, with no compromises on quality, playability and durability.
Manufacturing methods
FIFA Quality Pro • International Match Standard
Almost all DERBYSTAR models of the APS and TT series are either of FIFA Quality Pro quality or conform to the International Match Standard (IMS), which corresponds to FIFA quality. They can be used in all matches on an international level. All tests are conducted by a neutral body in accordance with FIFA rules. Tests include circumference, roundness, bounce, water absorption, weight, loss of pressure and—especially for FIFA Quality Pro—shape and size retention.
CATEGORIES & QUALITY LEVELS
Derbystar’s football RANGE offers balls in various qualities, weights and sizes. Or to put it another way: the perfect TOOL for every area of APPLICATION! below are brief descriptions and explanations of THE MARKINGS ON our balls.
ADVANCE PERFORMANCE SYSTEM
APS stands for Advance Performance System. It characterizes our balls and constitutes DERBYSTAR’s highest product quality.
TEAM-TRAINING
TT stands for Team Training. For almost every match ball, DERBYSTAR’s ball range offers a corresponding high-quality training ball.
In THE aps MATCH ball and tt training ball categories, footballs are divided into three quality classes:
PROFESSIONAL PREMIUM
PROFESSIONAL
STANDARD
"Light" or "S-Light" (Super Light)
Our weight-reduced youth balls are marked as “Light” or “S-Light” (Super Light). Characteristic for these footballs are the blue design for “Light” and the red design for “S-Light”. Light footballs weigh 350-370 g, while S-Light footballs weigh 290-310 g. There are no consistent rules in Germany as to which ball is recommended for which age group and there are differences between different regional associations. An overview of the recommendations of regional associations can be found here.
Light
Super Light
SURFACES
We use different outer materials for our footballs. The greatest perceivable difference BETWEEN these high-quality PU materials lies in the TEXTURE of the outermost surface. A differentiation is made between design surfaces and structurEd surfaces.
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DESIGN SURFACE
The design surface is a purely optical element. Although a structure is discernible (like the snake design in the picture), the surface is still smooth
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STRUCTURED SURFACE
The structured surface consists of both a visible and tactile pattern. Small depressions ensure even better controllability, and for this reason balls with a structured surface are particularly suitable for playing on wet (artificial) turf.
ZERO-WING BLADDER
The zero-wing bladder is made of high performance natural latex. The zero-wing concept was developed to keep the bladder and thus the ball as round as possible. DERBYSTAR uses for its footballs almost exclusively bladders made of natural latex with an integrated counterweight on the opposite side of the valve. Together with the zero-wing bladder concept, this guarantees a perfectly balanced ball with a lively bounce.
DOUBLE-LOCK VALVE
Since air can only escape through two locks in this valve, the double-lock valve ensures optimal airtightness and prevents the ball from losing air too quickly.
PLAYERS NUMBER
All footballs of the APS and TT series have a player’s number field. By blacking out parts of the digital “88”, any one- or two-digit number can be created, so balls can be easily customized.
REDUCED BOUNCE
The greatly reduced bounce is a special feature of our futsal range. If the balls are dropped from a height of 2 m onto firm ground, the bounce can amount to maximally 50-60 cm.