adidas Name London 2012 Olympic Ball
With exactly one year to go until the start of the Olympic football tournament, adidas, the Official Sportswear Partner of London 2012, have announced the unique name for the official tournament football as "The Albert".
The Great British public were invited to name the ball , and the winning entrant was suggested by Robert Ashcroft from Long Eaton in Derbyshire with his reasoning being the link to cockney rhyming slang - with Albert Hall (one of London s most iconic landmarks) meaning Ball . So what do you think of the adidas 'The Albert' football, share your thoughts online, on Twitter and on Facebook. 
The name Albert proved to be a very popular entry with over 10 variations of the name (Alberthall, Albertball, The Albert, Albert, Alberthallball etc) entered in the competition. Mr Ashcroft was the first to submit the name Albert within the entries. Aside from the Albert Hall link plenty of other iconic London phrases and places make the name Albert even more fitting - Uncle Albert from Only Fools and Horses, Albert Square from EastEnders, Albert Bridge over the River Thames and not forgetting the Albert Docks found in Newham, one of the Host Boroughs for the London 2012 Games.
The competition not only proved popular amongst the public with over 12,000 unique names submitted in the ten day period but also some of the country s top sports stars got in on the action suggesting names; Tom Daley stated a claim for The Stratford Bouncer and England s Ashes hero, Steven Finn suggested The Record Breaker .
With a long history of producing tournament footballs, adidas UK Marketing Director Nick Craggs said: We are delighted that we were able to offer the British public the opportunity to name the London 2012 Olympic football, and to receive so many great names. The London 2012 Games are becoming synonymous with the East End of London and it was important to us that the name reflected this strong heritage - The Albert creates mass appeal to the British public as well as creating global intrigue.
Robert Ashcroft from Derbyshire who chose the winning name said: I can t believe that my name was chosen for the ball that will have such a big part to play in the biggest sporting event on earth. The name was an obvious choice for me. With London hosting the 2012 Games it made sense to name a ball with the London Cockney rhyming slang heritage.
Paul Deighton, CEO of the London Games Organising Committee LOCOG, said: It s fantastic that adidas involved the public in the naming of this very special football for this very special tournament which will take place across the UK in 2012 .
For us keen football gear fans, adidas have confirmed we'll have to wait until Spring 2012 when the design of the Official London 2012 Olympic football is launched. But what are your opinions on the name 'The Albert' and are you looking forward to the London 2012 football tournaments? Share your thoughts with the SoccerBible community online, on Twitter and on Facebook.
