Arsenal legend Ray Parlour has gone head-to-head with Andrew Henderson, five-time world champion freestyler, to answer once and for all how football kit from the past, would fare against today’s modern designs. The pair faced a series of challenges, ahead of tickets going on sale for Football: Designing the Beautiful Game, a brand-new exhibition set to launch at The Design Museum from Friday 8th April.
To showcase how football has embraced design and technology to improve performance on the pitch, Parlour and Henderson were invited to try out what they believed was a series of challenges in the latest boots, balls and kit. However, they were met with a surprise when they were presented with traditional kit, balls and boots from the 1920’s – to really test their abilities.
Ray and Andrew took on three challenges in both sets of kit, to see how design impacts performance. The players began with a free kick challenge, comparing the capabilities of the boots and flight of the ball. They were then given a timed dribbling challenge, to test agility and their close control, before finishing with a two-touch challenge, testing power and accuracy.
