Repairing old Inter County football

Redderthanever

Hi there,

A bit of a strange one but as the title says I'm looking to repair an Inter County football from the 80's. It is my Dad's who is particularly attached to it. Unfortunately when I borrowed it recently a dog in the Phoenix Park punctured it. It still has air but is softer than it should be and I'm not sure it will hold a full pump anymore. Can anything be done? Is there an inner tube inside like in a bike tyre that can be replaced?

Redderthanever

.. Anyone out there?

Clareman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117740860#Comment_117740860

There's an inner tube in those balls, if you have a look at the panel with the valve in it, if you undo the stitches there the whole bladder will come out, a bicycle repair kit will fix that, then put it back, good darning needle should allow you stitch it back through the holes, if my memory serves me right it's a big orange bladder. I'd say pump it up first, 30 year old rubber isn't going to hold much air anyway so you'll probably just need to replace the bladder.

Redderthanever

Thanks so much for the advice.. That seems daunting unpicking the stitching but I'll give it a shot!

garv123

If you really want it repaired, you could bring it to a shoe repair shop. They'd be well used to dealing with cutting and repairing Stitching. But give it a pump first and see how it holds up.

ArielAtom

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058199156/repairing-old-inter-county-football

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058199156/repairing-old-inter-county-football

You could call O'Neills, they may be willing to repair it and possibly use it for marketing purposes, before returning it to you. Worth a shout.

timple23

Did you get sorted with this?

Hesh's Umpire

Contact O'Neill's. They do this regularly with damaged stitching.