The orange ball used in footballl matches during bad weather

[George 1978]

When football was shown on the TV and there was bad weather such as snow (and the match had not quite been postponed or cancelled but was not too far away from that happening), the traditional white (or black and white, hexagon and pentagon-patterned) ball was substututed for an orange ball which looked similar in colour to a basketball or netball, and almost looked as small as a baked bean when seen on TV! It seemed to be the case in the 1980s at least

I know that we don't have snow too often in the UK even though we had some in the past month, but when was the last time that Match of the Day had shown a match upon weather conditions and that the orange ball had to come out so that the fans can see the ball properly? I bet that it was the early to mid 1990s, but I am certain that I haven't seen it for years - perhaps the FA discontinued the use of footballs of that colour for some reason, or even completely forgotten the procedure of using them in bad weather and they simply postponed the fixture and saved it, ironically, for a rainy day a month or so later?

[darren]

I thought they still did use it i thought it was great an orange ball its so easy to see in snowy conditions.

Id have thought teams in lower divisions would use it.

But i can remember watching many a match with it.