Sherrin is a brand of football used in Australian rules football and is the official ball of the Australian Football League, designed to its official specifications. It was the first ball designed specifically for the sport.
Sherrin footballs are manufactured in Melbourne, Australia, from cowhide-lined, machine-stitched material, but other-sized models are often made in India or China using synthetic rubber.
"The Sherrin" has become a commentators' synonym for the ball while describing play.
History
In 1879, Thomas W. Sherrin opened a factory at 32 Wellington Street in Collingwood.[1] The first Australian rules football was invented by Sherrin himself in 1880, when he was given a misshapen rugby ball to fix. He designed the Sherrin with indented rather than pointy ends to give the ball a better bounce. The sport known as football, or "footy", was rapidly increasing in popularity, and Sherrin footballs soon became the icon for being the first ball made for Australian rules football. The new-shaped ball was so quickly accepted that the National Football League of Australia eventually used the size and shape as standard.
Sherrin began production in 1897 in a workshop in Collingwood, which had produced a variety of leather sporting goods since 1880, including footballs, cricket balls, boxing gloves and punching balls.