Lindon also won medals for the invention of the “Rubber inflatable Bladder” and the “Brass Hand Pump”. The first documented club to bear within the title a reference to being a ‘football club’ have been referred to as “The Foot-Ball Club” who were situated in Edinburgh, Scotland, through the period 1824–41.
The ball was to prove in style in early forms of football in the U.S. In Europe, early footballs have been made out of animal bladders, more particularly pig’s bladders, which have been inflated. Later leather coverings have been launched to allow the balls to maintain their shape. However, in 1851, Richard Lindon and William Gilbert, each shoemakers from the city of Rugby , exhibited both spherical and oval-shaped balls at the Great Exhibition in London. Richard Lindon’s spouse is alleged to have died of lung illness brought on by blowing up pig’s bladders.