Gilbert received its name from its originator, William Gilbert in 1823. William owned a shoe and boot shop that was located right next to the Rugby School. This school is located in Rugby, Warwickshire, and it is one of the oldest public schools in England. William started producing hand-stitched balls made out of real pig’s bladder for the school.
The procedure to make these balls was not the most exciting or cleanest jobs in the world. While in its putrid “green state”, one would have to blow the pig’s bladder up with a clay pipe inserted in the organ, and blow as hard as they could with their own lung power. The balls size and shape depended on the dimensions of each individual pig’s bladder. This is how the rugby ball received its oval-like shape. This method also had a risk of endangering a person’s health if a pig had a transmittable disease.
Another provider to the Rugby School was a man by the name of Richard Lindon. Because of the unfortunate death of his wife who died from getting an infection from a pig’s bladder, Lindon was determined to find another way to produce these balls without the hazardous effects. Around the 1860’s, he came out with a ball that had a rubber bladder which also gave it a standardized size, rather than a varying shape with each pig’s bladder.
After William Gilbert passed away, his family-owned business was carried on by his nephew James Gilbert which was then passed down to his son James John Gilbert. James John was an avid player of rugby, and continued to run his father’s business as he knew he would have wanted it to be carried on. However, the fourth and last generation of the Gilbert’s, James Gilbert took over the company after he was away at war in France and his father died at home.
The fourth generation of the Gilberts, James, worked extremely hard to make sure the family brand had a quality name for itself and to become one of the most recognized rugby brands in all rugby-playing nations. He personally hand-checked each match ball that went out to their top nations at the time, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, to make sure each one lived up to the Gilbert name.
Soon the Gilbert ball had gone through several generations of 4-panels, 6 panels, and even 8-panels. Each country had their own liking and chose from the different versions. However, the ball size was reduced an inch and lead to a rule change in 1932. The Gilbert Match became the most commonly used ball in international matches. In 1978, Gilbert had to sell the business because their conventional leather producing business could not compete against the increasing technology.
Throughout the next decade, Gilbert went through three different owners and several forms of technology for the ball. Synthetic leather was the new technological material used to produce the balls. They also expanded their business to become a “one-stop-shop” rugby fans around the world. Footwear, equipment, and protection gear were some of their expanded lines of products they had to offer.
Since this expansion and innovation of their balls, Gilbert has remained one of the top rugby companies in the world. From 2005-2007, they have been the official ball provider for the Rugby World Cup. They sponsor several of the top rugby teams around the globe including the United States Rugby team. They have come out with a new surface technology for the synergie ball that has been patented, giving them a competitive advantage over their top competitors.
This business has gone through several generations of the Gilbert family along with several generations of increased technology and improvement. Gilbert is known for its quality products and is known for being one of few companies who can provide a “one-stop-shop” for rugby players and clubs. They began producing pig bladder rugby balls for a school next door, and expanded to providing advanced technological balls along with all kinds of equipment and apparel to serve many rugby-playing nations around the world.
