History of Football Shoes

The first record of a pair of football boots occurs when Henry VIII of England ordered a pair from the Great Wardrobe in 1526. Football boots come in all different makes such as nike, adidas ,puma and umbro. Until 1891, any kind of projection on the soles or heels of football boots was strictly forbidden. The 1891 revision allowed both studs and bars, so long as they were made of leather and did not project more than half an inch. Studs had to be rounded, neither conical nor pointed and not less than half an inch in diameter. The leather studs were originally hammered into the boots on a semi-permanent basis and players would have several pairs of boots with different length studs, but in the mid-1950s Adidas introduced boots with interchangeable screw-in studs made of rubber or plastic for varying weather conditions. A lighter boot without ankle protection and resembling a studded shoe became popular in southern Europe and South America where pitches were generally harder and less muddy and this eventually became the standard style.

Timeline:

1900-1940’s: Between 1900-1940 football boots style stayed very basic because of the second world war. However, in this period of time, many famous football boot producers come about, the likes of Gola, Hummel and Valsport came about and were very popular.

1940-1960’s: After the Second World War, the designs of the football boot changed dramatically and really started to make an impact on the game. The South Americans designed a more light and more flexible boot. This design was focused on increasing good control and better kicking power rather than a more protective boot.

1960’s: In the 1960’s the football boot technology really took a huge step, which saw many football boots designed with a lower cut. These enabled the best players in Europe and South America to move faster and change direction quicker.

1970-1980’s: The 1970’s and the 1980’s saw many great advances and changes the in the football boot design. The 1970’s saw technology produce many more light boots and a variety of colours. In this decade, players started to get paid to wear a certain brand of boots. Finally in the1980’s, probably the most popular and dominant boot in the world the Adidas Predator was designed. The Predator enables you to strike with amazing power and the different stitching on the boot allows you to gain more swerve when passing or shooting.

1990-2000’s: In the 1990’s this saw football boots introduce different types of studs to increase the balance of the player. The Predators once again dominated this era and a more flexible sole was introduced. In the 2000’s laser technology was introduced to produce the first fully customized football boot.