All ready for the World Cup

Via the BBC:

The world's oldest football is being sent to Germany for the World Cup

The 450-year-old ball will form the centrepiece of an exhibition on the history of the sport.

Staff at its current home in Stirling's Smith Museum are preparing the delicate artefact for its trip to the Museum fur Volkerkunde in Hamburg.

The ball was once the property of Mary Queen of Scots and museum bosses in Germany were keen to display it after deeming it the oldest in existence.

Although it looks rather metal-esque in the photo, it's actually made of a pig's bladder. Could have lived without knowing that I suppose.