For the highest quality and best value for money footballs, you cannot do any better than the internationally renowned Select footballs!
SELECT - Match... Training... Futsal Balls
SELECT - "The Player's Choice"
The company was founded in 1947 by Eigil Nielsen, the Danish national football team’s goal keeper. He participated in 28 national matches from 1940-1951 and was there when Denmark won bronze at the Olympic Games in London in 1948.
In Eigil Nielsen’s days top players could not live solely from their sport so he chose to train as a sports psychologist and also had a job in the shoe and leather industry. Here he created the first SELECT football.
In 1951 Eigil Nielsen entered into an agreement with the Danish Football Association on supplying footballs to the national football team’s matches. As something completely new, the SELECT football had an in-built valve and no outside cord. This meant that the ball retained its round shape much better and that the cord was not a nuisance when kicking or heading. The improvement was a radical new invention.
At this time, all footballs were made up of eight sections of cow leather which most of all looked like a brown leather orange. Later 18 oblong strips were used before SELECT in 1962 introduced one of the greatest inventions in the history of football - the 32-section ball. At the beginning of the 1970s Eigil Nielsen was again a forerunner when he and SELECT brought out a handball with 32 sections.
In 1974 SELECT moved away from cow leather and made the first hand-sewn synthetic leather ball. This material quickly became the material of choice instead of real leather and today practically all balls are made of synthetic leather, regardless of brand.
All sorts of football and handball tournaments are still played with balls based on Eigil Nielsen’s 32-section principle - just as all the balls produced in the world today are built on his innovation.
Milestones in the history of SELECT:
1947 Eigil Nielsen makes his first quality football 1951 Eigil introduces the world’s first laceless football 1951 SELECT appointed official supplier by DBU, Danish Football Fed. 1952 The laceless ball is used at the Olympic Games in Helsinki 1957 SELECT appointed official supplier by DHF, Danish Handball Fed. 1962 The world's first 32-panel ball is presented 1965 First waterproof soccer ball is introduced 1974 First hand-stitched PU ball 1996 Cooperation with FIFA about global football criteria 2005 Official supplier to ASOBAL, top Spanish handball league 2005 Appointed official supplier of handballs to IHF, Int. Handball Fed. 2007 DHF has continuously played with SELECT handballs for 50 years 2009 DBU has continuously played with SELECT footballs for 58 years
