FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 is the ultimate catwalk for soccer boots and this blog combines an interest in football with footwear. Soccer shoes have evolved from engineer's boot to cleated slippers which come to represent all that is known in the science and craft of shoe-making. As a shoe historian, I review the evolution of the soccer boot and post related issues.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Sunday, November 03, 2013
White Copa Mundial of Adidas: Special Edition
Adidas has launched a white Copa Mundial of Adidas on limited edition. Oringinally released in 1979 the Copa Mundial graced the feet of the great including: Franz Beckenbauer, Michel Platini, Zico, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and many other soccer superstars.
Founder Adi Dassler was actively involved in the initial development of the "Copa Mundial" but sadly died before they became best sellers. The new version of Copa Mundial soccer shoe has kangaroo leather uppers, reinforced heel panel and twelve-stud outsole design.
Friday, October 25, 2013
Yohji Yamamoto adizero f50
Japanese fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto and adidas have created the Yohji Yamamoto adizero f50 , a new limited edition soccer boot . The lightweight boot (165g) , has a lion’s face and was inspired by the spiritual lion-dog guards that defended the grounds of Japanese emperors. This weekend the boots will be worn by David Alaba ( FC Bayern Munich and Austria )and Lucas Moura ( Paris Saint-Germain, Brazil). There are only 2,000 pairs of the Yohji Yamamoto adizero f50 boots available globally from Monday, October 28. and can be purchased in selected adidas retail outlets,
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Friday, September 06, 2013
Craig Johnson: Boot blades
Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney is out for several weeks after suffering a horrific gash to his forehead in a clash in training with Manchester United team mate Phil Jones. The gash was caused by an accidental kick with blades. Since they were introduced over ten years ago many luminaries in the game including Sir Alex Ferguson and former Liverpool FC hero and inventer of the Adidas Predator boot, Craig Johnston have warned of the potential dangers of blade footwear. The call for softer studs and less viscious blades is growing and Johnston has warned it is only a matter of time before a big-name footballer sues a boot company.
Saturday, July 06, 2013
Friday, June 14, 2013
Countdown to the 2014 FIFA World Cup: Watch out !
In collaboration with Hublot (official timekeeper of the 2014 FIFA World Cup) and (Radamel ) Falcao (AS Monaco and Columbia), < a href="http://www.puma.com/">Puma have issued a limited edition of their evoSPEED boot. The promotion is part of a countdown to 2014 FIFA World Cup. Falcao signed a personal endorsement agreement with Hublot and PUMA have collaborated with them to develop the bespoke boot to accompany a limited edition Falcao signature time piece. Only 100 pieces are available; 60 titanium and 40 King Gold priced at US$17,000 and US$40,000. PUMA created an evoSPEED 1.2 colourway for each watch, numbered 1-60 and 1-40, and the concept was first presented at the Basel Watch fair. The lateral side of the boot bears no secondary branding, and have been left blank so each will be personally signed by Falcao. The boots will only be available with each watch sold, and come together in a unique casing. For every Hublot Falcao sold, a portion of the revenue will go towards improving the “terrible living conditions” in the Grand Lagoon of Santa Marta, Falcao’s Caribbean birth town”
Thursday, May 02, 2013
FA Cup finalist in pink polka dots
Professional footballers rarely if ever need to pay for a pair of football boots. The vast majority are signed to a lucrative boot contract and get supplied supplied evermore with enough boots to give them away. One downside to this arrangement is sometimes companies come up with competition boots that might on second thoughts not be the most appealing to the wearer and their fans.

Sergio Agüero (Manchester City and Argentina ) will be sporting these tutti frutti beauties when he takes to the field at the FA Cup Final (May 11th) courtesy of Puma. The colourway of the new evoSPEED 1.2 Camo is certainly eyecatching.

Sergio Agüero (Manchester City and Argentina ) will be sporting these tutti frutti beauties when he takes to the field at the FA Cup Final (May 11th) courtesy of Puma. The colourway of the new evoSPEED 1.2 Camo is certainly eyecatching.
Thursday, March 07, 2013
Thursday, February 21, 2013
adizero F50 Messi: Introducing Messi's Signature Collection
Lionel Messi ( FC Barcelona and Argentina) is set to release his own range of football boots . The player helped with the design and testing process for his custom-made studs. The Adidas F50 boots will be available later this year. The boots sport the Messi logo and feature a single red stud surrounded by 10 white ones. At 165g, they are one of the lightest soccer slippers
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Friday, November 16, 2012
Winnicott Foundation: Zlatan Ibrahimović's boots
Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden) has given his turquoise boots to charity. Zlatan scored an amazing goal against England which has made his boot hot property. He agreed to give his boots to team-mate Jonas Olsson for a novel idea of raising funds for the Winnicott Foundation, a charity for premature and critically ill newborn babies. Olsson is allowing people to donate a five pounds Sterling to the charity in order to be in with a chance to win the boots. Once the figure reaches ₤10,000 he will pick a winner at random. The generous defender has also pledged to donate ₤5,000 once it reaches that figure.
Tuesday, October 09, 2012
Saturday, October 06, 2012
Old Heads dislike soccer slippers
Martin O'Neill (manager of Sunderland ) spoke recently about his dislike of modern soccer slippers and the potential dangers they may bring to professional players. O'Neill's comments are a direct result of the influx of colourful and lightweight football boots and his opinion is shared by Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United). The latter refuses to allow academy graduates to wear anything other than black boots with studs and no blades. Under new rules Manchester United's junior players have been banned from wearing anything other than old-school black while on club business. Once in the reserve or first-team squad there are no restrictions but the old heads do caution against wearing highly coloured boots for moderately talented players. The eyecatching hues may attract more skilful attention.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Friday, June 08, 2012
Nike Clash Collection football bootsL Colour is key
Nike have released the Nike Clash Collection football boots consisting of four of the best soccer shoes available from their range. Each boot sports a white toe with contrasting bright tone around the ankle, and each color representing the shoe’s strengths. The Mercurial Vapor VIII sports red for speed, CTR360 Maestri II features blue for the “assured midfielder,” T90 Laser IV is in electric green for the “deadly striker,” and the Tiempo Legend IV opts for black to reiterate the shoe’s classic style. All four models in the Clash Collection are now available, ranging in price from $150 to $220.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Season for new football boots
Perhaps it is the imminent London Olympics which has inspired shoe companies to release their new season football boots. Adidas unvailed their new generation of adidas Predator recently. The adidas Predator Lethal Zone ‘Pass’ was seen at the UCL semi-final match between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich . Boots have memory foam on the medial side of the to help with consistency in passing. The 3-D sticky print also provides a large surface area to increase ball contact.
The colourway of the new Umbro St George collection of football boots comes from the flag of St George (England’s Patron Saint).
According to the manufacturer the Geometra Pro is useful on a firm pitch and best suited to midfield players. St George Geometra Pro , features a special circular cleat configuration to increase grip and acceleration. The Umbro St. George Speciali 3 Pro is an evergreen with Umbro’s signature A-frame to keep feet safe and comfortable and the lightweight HG sole plate for perfect balance between flexibility and protection. The Umbro GT 2 is crafted from a lightweight micro-fibre, offering great touch and feel to the wearer. These are Umbro’s lightest boots and feature an anatomically-contured outsole and internal Poron sock-liner. The St George Collection will be on sale from 4th May.
Reebok (subsiduary of adidias) have launched their new football boots with concealed laces. Apparently the concealed laces improves the size of the sweet spot as well as reducing the number of injuries caused to other players in the contact sport.
Lotto’s Fuerzapura range offers water-repellent kanagaroo leather uppers. The boot features Twist'ngo and ReactiveArch technology with conical fixed polyurethane studs soles which ensure stability and traction. For added comfort the boot have a removable insock.
The colourway of the new Umbro St George collection of football boots comes from the flag of St George (England’s Patron Saint).
According to the manufacturer the Geometra Pro is useful on a firm pitch and best suited to midfield players. St George Geometra Pro , features a special circular cleat configuration to increase grip and acceleration. The Umbro St. George Speciali 3 Pro is an evergreen with Umbro’s signature A-frame to keep feet safe and comfortable and the lightweight HG sole plate for perfect balance between flexibility and protection. The Umbro GT 2 is crafted from a lightweight micro-fibre, offering great touch and feel to the wearer. These are Umbro’s lightest boots and feature an anatomically-contured outsole and internal Poron sock-liner. The St George Collection will be on sale from 4th May.
Reebok (subsiduary of adidias) have launched their new football boots with concealed laces. Apparently the concealed laces improves the size of the sweet spot as well as reducing the number of injuries caused to other players in the contact sport.
Lotto’s Fuerzapura range offers water-repellent kanagaroo leather uppers. The boot features Twist'ngo and ReactiveArch technology with conical fixed polyurethane studs soles which ensure stability and traction. For added comfort the boot have a removable insock.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Friday, September 30, 2011
The adizero f50: The smart new kicks
The adizero f50 has been dubbed the intelligent football boot and is powered by adidas miCoach . According to adidas the electronic soccer shoe tracks and uploads performance data to help improve the players performance. The boots have a cavity in the outsole unit which houses the miCoach SPEED_CELL™, which in turn captures 360° movement and measures key performance metrics including speed, average speed (recorded every second), maximum speed (recorded every five seconds), number of sprints, distance, distance at high intensity levels, steps and stride rates. On-board memory stores all the measurements during your game or training for up to seven hours and then wirelessly transmits the on pitch performance data to a tablet, PC or MAC. Other adidas technologies built in to the new shoe include the Sprintweb, which provides stability during high speed movements, Sprintskin, a synthetic lightweight layer to reduce the weight of the shie and Sprintframe, which uses geometrics and a new stud construction to balance between lightweight and stability.
The adizero f50 boots come with a Speed Cell™ and a smart device dongle miCoach CONNECT for iPod and iPhone as well as the miCoach CONNECT for PC / MAC. The boots weighs 165g and costs €245 ($330) and will be available at adidas retail outlets and specialist stores worldwide from November.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
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