Thomas Lyte are the proud designers and makers of the Emirates FA Cup and Adobe Women’s FA Cup Golden Ball Awards.
This annual award, created in partnership with Mitre, will be awarded to the player that scores the most goals throughout the respective tournaments, from the preliminary rounds to the final at Wembley Stadium. The winner is presented with their Mitre Golden Ball prior to kick-off at the Emirates Men’s and Adobe Women’s FA Cup finals respectively.
Both awards share a common design, which is based upon an exact 3D replica of the new Mitre Delta Max football, featuring intricate hand-chased details and engraving finished in stunning 24 carat gold-plate. Each year, the Mitre FA Cup match balls change in design, and our team at Thomas Lyte work closely with the designers at Mitre to ensure the Mitre Golden Balls accurately reflect the intricate, bespoke designs of the respective year’s match-ball.
The FA Cup begins in August, with the Extra Preliminary rounds, and runs throughout the English football season to May. The Football League enters the competition in the first round ‘proper’, with Premier League and Championship Teams joining the tournament as late as the third round ‘proper’ – leaving a maximum of 5 games to reach the final. The result is a greater opportunity for players from the lower leagues to win the Mitre Golden Ball, having played many more games than the teams from the top tiers.
Following the 2021/22 Emirates FA Cup and Adobe Women’s FA Cup Finals, stars of non-League football Adam Boyes and Chloe Williams were presented with the inaugural Golden Ball Awards as the top scorers.
Liverpool’s legendary striker Ian Rush, who scored a record five goals across three Final victories, presented Adam’s award and Chloe received hers from Faye White, who was a winner of the competition on nine occasions with Arsenal.
