Football boots have come in different sizes, shapes, and colours over the years, but the designers’ primary goal has always been to provide players with the best possible performance. The 1980s was the birth of modern football classics when Copa Mundial and King Puma were popular on players’ feet; leather was the material of choice, designed with comfort and performance in mind. In the last years of the 1900s and into the new millennium, football boots have been further developed in boot soles. As a result, football players no longer needed to wear two different shoes; instead, they could use shoes with interchangeable spikes.
The next step was to replace work shoes with genuine leather football boots. Shortly after that, work boots were replaced with authentic football boots made from leather to show their best performance in football. During this time, professional players were also sponsored to wear certain brands of football boots. After World War II, developers and players became interested in football and shoes again. Football boots were introduced in 1891 after an overhaul led to the use of small spikes or bars on the boots worn by the players. The original rules of the game, drawn up in 1863, only stipulated that shoes should not have protruding studs, which were used before the introduction of proper studs that provided traction on the often muddy pitches of early football. Football boots usually had a reinforced toe, sometimes steel; this resulted in injuries whenever one player accidentally kicked another.
The beginning of the late 1940s marked the beginning of a significant change in football boot design, which, given the leanness of the original shoe, was critical to the development of the modern game. The second half of the 19th century saw the growth of the first-ever football shoe, made from thick, heavy leather that reached down to the ankle for added protection; the first boot weighed 500 grams and doubled the weight when wet.
Later these boots had metal nails or spikes at the bottom of the boot to give the players a better grip and not slip; later around this time, the first official football boots were made of leather and were heavy and thick to the ankle. Over the next few years, Adidas phased out the customisation of the shoe instead of incorporating adiZero technology into the shoe, making it one of the lightest running shoes on the market. The new football boots are lighter and slightly lower on foot, which improves flexibility.
Shoe manufacturers will accept the requirements of football players to the greatest extent possible, and orthopedists will do their best to correct them. Still, it is not so much when a football player’s feet have to be within reach of a chisel, hammer, hacksaw and brush at the same time.
