goalpost DELIVERY INFORMATION

Football goal post netting, protective shin pads, dugouts, portable football goals and safe net fixings are now the norm but they were once football innovations.

Football goalpost net adds so much more to the game and is also a sensible addition. The Football hitting the back of the net ! Itsa Goal !  

The Football Association's first rules in the year 1863 stated football goalposts had to be eight yards apart ; a rule unchanged. The goalpost crossbar was introduced much later and was initially as tape in 1866. Solid crossbars were actually made mandatory in 1882.  

Football Goal nets came much later thanks to Mr. John Alexander Brodie, an engineer from Liverpool.  In October 1889, Brodie went to watch his team, Everton play Accrington Stanley at Anfield  (Everton’s ground at the time!).  Mr. Brodie thought they had scored a winning goal but, with no goal net attached to it no one could be sure if the shot had passed through the posts. The unfair result was a draw and the the problem was there to resolve. Mr. Brodie found the solution initially by putting his hands in his pocket whilst considering the problem and hence the idea for attaching a goal net came about.

Following trials and a passing a patent for the idea the very first goal to be scored with a net was by an Everton player Mr. Fred Geary. The actual game was refereed by Mr S. Weller Widdowson, who actually later invented shin pads! Football goal nets featured in the FA Cup final in  1891.

Mr. Widdowson was a sportsman from Nottingham. It was said that Widdowson could run 100 yards in 10.25 seconds and a mile in four minutes, 50 seconds. Widdowson also played cricket and the idea for shin pads was taken from the similar protective pads used in cricket.  in 1874 Shin pads were actually used outside the socks and initially. FIFA made shin guards compulsory in 1990. 

Donald Colman introduced dugouts to football. His original surname was Cunningham however, his father was religious and did not approve of football and this difference led to Donald changing his name to his mother's maiden name.

He played for Glasgow Perthshire before becoming a professional footballer with Motherwell, he also  won four Scotland caps. After his playing career he became a football coach and Colman's coaching methods focused on possession with the creation of space to pass into by other players moving off the ball, this was a new idea at the time. The idea for dugouts was originally seen in a Norwegian club, SK Brann of Bergen,  football coaches were in huts at the side of pitches shouting instructions.

As an avid coach the idea of having a lower than ground level shelter may help study the players play where it mattered at ball level; this is where the idea originated from.  When Colman became the coach at Aberdeen in 1931 he brought this concept of dugouts to Pittodrie – the first to be installed at a professional football ground. 

Mr John Robert Wilson  and the company Itsa Goal Posts Limited was the first company in the world to make safe lightweight plastic football goals for children in 1986.   The first plastic goal was 12' wide by 6' high and was a proportionally sized goal intended for children. The goal was adopted by the Football Association and the new game was introduced by the F.A. called Mini soccer. This also led to a large increase in girls playing football.

Before the introduction of plastic children’s football goals by our company, it was “Jumpers for goal posts”. All who played in those games will remember the many squabbles that took place with every shot that was within inches of the jumper come goalpost. When a young lad decided to make the very first 12’x 6’ Mini Soccer Goal from wood and pea netting in 1959 he did not realise that this would eventually change the way football would be played by future children around the world.

The first children’s 12’x 6’ plastic goals in carrying bags were manufactured by that same youngster in 1986 and the rest is history. The portable PVC goals were easy to assemble, lightweight yet strong, virtually impossible to knock over and light enough to carry around.

Welcomed by the English Football Association they were approved to launch small-sided games for children where the introduction of proportional goal posts and pitches allowed more touches of the football for everyone. The small sided game introduced and encouraged girls to take up the game at a younger age which led to an explosion of girls and ladies football.

An invitation to F.I.F.A. soon followed and our children’s goal post Goal was subsequently approved by the world’s governing body The Federation de-International de-Football Association.

A whole new manufacturing industry producing low-cost safer children’s goalposts has subsequently been created around this original innovative idea. They say imitation is the best form of flattery and although numerous copies of our concept have been made none have bettered those original football goals we made.

The brand name we adopted is a tribute to the first legendary football commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme who said after the first ever televised BBC “Match of the Day” goal ( scored by Roger Hunt of Liverpool in 1964) “It’s a Goal” The company was formed in 1989 when the small sided game for children “Mini Soccer” was created and the first plastic goal in a bag was invented by our company. Many copies of the original concept of a goal post in a bag have been made but none surpass the speed of installation, the strength, the quality and the longevity of our football goals.

The biggest brand in the world “Coca-Cola “chose our original plastic goals for a unique scheme directed at helping introduce young children to the small sided game. The promotion “The Big Red Bag” was a collaboration with the Football Association aimed at developing the game in schools and junior grass roots football. The equipment provided a complete football pitch in a bag that included two football goals, proportional smaller footballs, corner flags, pitch markers, and players coloured bibs. This low cost easy to use training aid helped increase the participation in kid’s football.

Click here to view the full range of Plastic goals manufactured by Itsa Goal

Traditionally steel football goal posts used steel net hooks. These were unsafe and caused many accidents, they are now banned. With the introduction of lightweight children's goals the idea for safe arrow head plastic net hooks was also created.  These fixings can also be used on metal goals.   Many goals now seen in professional stadiums are made in aluminium with a recessed channel for nylon net fixings to twist and lock in place.  

Click here to view and buy the safe plastic arrow head net fixings 

ITSA GOAL posts are “Made in Sheffield” where Association Football was born and first played.

THE FIRST FOOTBALL CLUB – THE FIRST FOOTBALL MATCH – THE FIRST FOOTBALL DERBY GAME  – THE FIRST FOOTBALL GROUND  – THE FIRST FLOODLIT FOOTBALL MATCH  – THE FIRST GOAL POSTS  – THE FIRST CROSSBAR  & THE FIRST MINI SOCCER GOAL.

Sheffield & Association Football - Recognized by F.I.F.A as the oldest football club in the world Sheffield F.C who currently compete in the Football Association Non-League pyramid  were founded in 1857. Initially members of the club played between themselves much the same as they did in the local golf clubs of the time. They were varied games married men against single men ,older men against younger men and chosen teams from club members. 

The second oldest team is also Sheffield based: Hallam F.C. who still play on their original ground, the oldest continually used existing football ground in the World. Sheffield F.C. on the other hand, have played on numerous grounds in and around Sheffield since their formation.

The very first football challenge match between constituted football clubs was at the Hallam ground on Boxing Day 1860 and this fixture continues to this day and is the oldest derby game in the world. 

Forms of rugby type football that kicked ,punched, carried by hand and generally tried to force objects into opposing goals took place for many centuries prior to 1857 however Sheffield F.C pioneered the modern rules and practices of soccer, including corner kicks, free kicks for fouls, no use of hands other than goalkeepers, throw-ins ,heading,the first goal posts  and the use of crossbars to determine the goal as a target area.

When professional football started Sheffield F.C. decided to maintain their amateur status and play for no other reward than the love of the game.  Other local teams Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday who at that time decided to reward players went on to be more successful local teams both winning the F.A.Cup and League Championships. 

It is with this historical background that ITSA Goal developed the very first uPVC portable goal in a bag. With the concept of smaller proportional goals and pitches for children less players for more touches Mini-Soccer was born. The Football Association adopted the idea and the game has been introduced nationwide. Other innovative patented products have followed and the company has been the driving force behind safety and innovation in goal post design for over four decades. “Innovation that nets results”.

 This is why Sheffield is recognized the world over as being the Home of Football.

Association Football born in Sheffield played around the world

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