In a new four year partnership, Mitre will supply all SPL teams with their own unique version of the advanced Mitre Tensile Football, as well as replica and mini versions for fans, available exclusively from ACA Sports.

Gary Hibbert, Managing Director of Mitre, said, “We’re looking forward to further success with the SPL over the next four years and with the additional partnership with ACA Sports meaning fans can buy replicas of their club’s footballs – this only enhances our offering to fans.”

ACA Sports Managing Director, Alistair Cameron is also pleased with the new partnership, “We are delighted to be working in partnership with the SPL and Mitre. This landmark deal will allow every fan in the SPL the oppurtunity to buy their clubs match and replica balls for the first time in the league’s history – something we are all very excited about.”

The SPL Mitre Shop is now live, with footballs for all clubs available on Pre-Order ahead of their September release.

Adidas are well known for there long list of impressive and iconic Champions League footballs over the past few years, using the latest and most advanced technologies and features to produce a ball capable of meeting the demands of today’s modern game.

Used during the 2011 Champions League Final at the home of English football, Wembley Stadium, the Finale London 2011 is the latest addition from Adidas, with a unique design on the outer themed across English heritage.

Visually, the 2011 Adidas Champions League Finale match football features a network pattern of red Champions league stars across the outer, linking up with a bright orange Wembley 2011 star placed in the middle.

The English theme continues on this Adidas match ball with a silver lion graphic styled across two of the outer stars, whilst the official Adidas Champions League badge is placed in-between, adorned by two opposite facing lions.

FIFA approved to the highest standard, the Adidas Finale London football is made from the most advanced and lightweight materials on the market. In a seamless thermal bonding design, the Adidas Champions League Finale offers superior flight, touch and control, using a high performance latex bladder for exceptional weight, balance and shape retention.

All of the top English teams left in the competition will be desperate to play in the Champions League Final at home in Wembley Stadium, London, Can this be the ball that lands them the biggest prize in European football?

The Adidas Champions League Finale match ball is available to buy from ACA Sports priced at £69.95. The Adidas Finale London is also available in a takedown UCL Finale Top version for £18.95 or in a mini sized version for £5.95.

Over the coming weeks I will be reviewing items from balls to base layers, boots to goalkeeping gloves – hopefully giving you an idea of which product would best suit you and your team.

First Up, Match Balls!

It always amazes me that there are so many different footballs on the market but having tested these out you can definitely see the reasons why. Who would have thought there would be so much technology in a simple football?

The way things have evolved with the football is making the game quicker and more dynamic which makes for a fantastic spectacle for the fans – bit of a nightmare for the goalkeepers though!

Mitre Max  Football

This is an absolute classic!

The ball that reminds me most of my time in the Premier League – things have moved on a bit since this ball first came out and it is a bit heavier than the balls we use now.

Easy to control free kicks because of the weight it makes an ideal match ball.  Will work well for the Sunday morning matches as well as those slightly higher up the non-league echelen on a Saturday.

You can’t go wrong with this middle of the range price ball – top draw.

You can pick up the Mitre Max football for £25.95 from ACA Sports.

Nike T90 Tracer Hi Vis

Goalkeepers in the Premier League might already  be having nightmares about this ball! The tag line for the ball gives it away – kill the nil!!  Oh dear keepers!!

It is easy to strike and it really flies. My mate, Derby keeper Steven Bywater, and the rest of the goalkeepers’ union bemoan how balls become repeatedly lighter and move around in flight more with every passing season.

Fans want to see goals, though, not clean sheets.  With practice you could make this ball swerve into the top corner with ease – it is actually quite hard not to strike it well – lucky for me!

The Premier League version of the Nike T90 Tracer Hi-Vis is available now for £79.95.

Mitre Tensile Football

For me, Mitre is still THE classic football manufacturer.  So much heritage and tradition.

This is the Match ball we use in the Championship week in week out.  We also make sure we are training with them all week – each club has it supplied in their bespoke colours, which is a nice touch.

The Tensile has a different panel design  to previous years.  This is great ball to pass with – it zips across the pitch nicely and is easy to control, sometimes!!

The Tensile is perfecttoo  for non-league clubs and those Sunday morning players who want to play with the best.

Pick up your Mitre Tensile match football for £64.95, bargain!

Adidas Champions League Finale 2010

Can you believe this is the 10^th edition of the iconic Champions League ball?

Adidas have released this for the 2010/11 season and a Special Edition version will be used at Wembley in the final later this season.

After the controversy that the Jabulani World Cup ball caused in the World Cup it was important that Adidas delivered for the Champions League. They have certainly done that!

The Finale plays a little bit heavier than the Jabulani but nowhere near the old school favourite – the Adidas Tango. This latest edition from Adidas is definitely worthy of gracing the Champions League.

The Adidas Champions League Finale is on sale now.

Mitre Revolve Match Football

This is last year’s Football League ball. More classical than this year’s Tensile , a little heavier and it doesn’t zip around the field quite as much. That said it was great for accuracy and I enjoyed playing with them last season.

The Mitre ball this year is a step up though – it suits my passing game – yes you read that correctly!

Still this is a quality ball that would cope with high level football easily.

The Mitre Revolve is available for just £59.95 from ACA.

The football will be used by all 72 Football League clubs, as well as by the 12 SPL clubs in the 2010/2011 season, with each team gaining a unique design featuring their team colours and badge.

Marketing Manager for Mitre, Nick Crook, said “Mitre are committed to ball performance,  we are very proud of the TENSILE…The TENSILE is a players ball , uses the very latest technology and we’ve no doubt it will add to the excitement and spectacle of the new season – and hopefully more goals!”. Check out the video…

Much has been said recently about the Adidas Jabulani, the match football for the 2010 World Cup, called the Adidas Jo’Bulani when in it’s golden World Cup Final guise. Players and coaches have been speaking about it more than probably any other ball, while Adidas and the Jabulani’s designer have added their comments as well.

But why the interest? Isn’t a football a football? To help you understand why a football is making so much news, here are some of the facts behind what has been said to be the most advance football ever made.

The Adidas Jabulani design.

Made with just eight panels, which are thermally bonded to reduce the drag caused by traditional stitching, the Jabulani panels are pre-formed to make the ball the most perfectly spherical ball Adidas have ever produced.

As well as this, the ball has a textured surface, called “Grip n Groove” technology, which gives the ball the most stable flight characteristics for total precision. The dimpled surface is also beneficial for grip, for goalkeepers and outfield players who will be able to produce more spin if struck well. The Jabulani has also scored the best results in FIFA’s testing to validate the claims made by Adidas.

So what’s the problem then you might ask? Well, goalkeepers in particular do not like the ball due to it’s unpredictable flight patterns, which is more obvious at high altitude, as will be the case in South Africa.

Keepers including Gianluigi Buffon, David James, Julio Cesar and Marcus Hanneman have all slated the ball and how many errors it will force upon them, as have outfielders including Luis Fabiano, who could only call the ball “weird”.

Adidas have been quick to defend the ball, pointing out that it has been used in international competition since December. So is the criticism just a case of early excuses? Is the case that the pressure is beginning to build? We shall wait and see…