Bikkembergs Football Boots - Bix

He may be better known for his fashion designs, but Dirk Bikkembergs is actually the man behind a new football boot.

Although it is not a main stream brand in the UK for football boots, the Bikkembergs brand is strong in the fashion world. The football brand has a strong following in Belgium, Italy, Holland and Germany and is likely to gain strength in other areas of Europe too.

It is perhaps in fashion where many will have seen the unique “pupino” logo that is often adorned by celebrities and football players alike. David Beckham has been known to wear the brand and more recently Michael Ballack was wearing the T-Shirt as he strutted around Stamford Bridge at the start of this football season.

Bix Football Boots

Footy Boots will be providing a full review on the football boots over the coming days. They are currently being worn by Barcelona striker Ludovic Guily and the entire FC Fossombrone team from Italy, more on that to come too.

Newcastle fans have greeted their new striker, Obafemi Martins.

The 21 year old Nigerian star completed a £10million move from Inter Milan, on a five-year contract and was rather animated as he waved the Geordie flag at St James’s park, before Newcastle’s UEFA Cup qualifying game with FK Ventspils.

Newcastle manager Roeder commented about Martins taking the famous Newcastle No. 9 shirt “It’s not the football boots, it’s the person wearing them; it’s not the shirt, it’s the person that is wearing the shirt”.

We beg to differ, the football boots are important.

So what football boots does Obafemi Martins wear?

One thing is for sure, he is sponsored by Nike and he wears Nike Mercurial Vapors. During his last two friendly games for Inter Milan, Martins wore different boots in each game.

He was wearing the Nike Mercurial Vapor II and the Nike Mercurial Vapor III.

England and Chelsea captain John Terry could hardly of hoped for a better start to the football season.

After being named England captain, John Terry scored in his first game as captain against Greece and England went on to win the game 4 - 0. He also went on to score for Chelsea in their first Premiership game against Manchester City.

John Terry wears Umbro XAI V football boots.

The Umbro XAI V football boots features Umbro’s latest boot technology including Wishbone sole plate, EXO skeleton III for ultimate comfort and protection, and PU Inkstrips for improved ball control.

John Terry has said: “Umbro have supported me brilliantly throughout my career to date. It is fantastic that as a true English Football brand they are prepared to support me for the rest of my playing career. Since I started my career at Chelsea as a teenager, UMBRO have provided me with the best football boots featuring the latest technology. To me, UMBRO is everything that football is, from the grassroots to the top of the game. I like their approach across all levels of the game.”

Read the review on the Umbro XAI V football boots.

The Umbro XAI V football boots, is a quality football boot with a realistic price tag.

The Umbro XAI V is a good looking football boot, available in black/white yellow/red and silver/white/red colourways.

Performance: A lightweight football boot, weighing in at 10.8 oz. The Kangaroo leather ensures a soft touch, yet highly durable material. The K leather also assists the football boot to resist water, thus reducing weight during competitive play. A clean kicking surface is gained with the offset lacing, including an ergonomic tongue using a loop lace and Velcro to keep in place.

Comfort: The Umbro XAI V football boot, features an anatomical wishbone kontakt plate designed to support your feet and make the football boots comfortable. The EXO skeleton heel counter gives protection and enhanced stability and comfort.

Players: John Terry.

Price: £80

Verdict: A good all round top of the range football boot. Priced lower than most ‘top end’ football boots. Ideal for the serious footballer.

Andiy Shevchenko made his Premiership debut yesterday.

Following his high profile football boot sponsorship launch with Reebok last week (Shevchenko Football Boots), Shevchenko was also due to wear the Reebok football boot for the first time, as Chelsea cruised to a 3 - 0 win over Manchester City.

Shevchenko actually played the first half in Reebok football boots, but for some unknown reason played the second half in Mizuno Wave Shrinken football boots.

As previously reported (Shevchenko Football Boots), Shevchenko cut short his football boot sponsorship deal with Mizuno earlier this month, said to be because of Chelsea sponsorship agreements. Shevchenko now wears Reebok football boots.

Footy-Boots.com has just launched a new poll, to discover which brand of football boots is considered the best by you the general public.

With all the marketing that took place during the World Cup and the recent sponsorship deals that have taken place, it will be fascinating to see who you choose to come out on top as the best football boot brand.
Please take part in the survey, by making your selection in the poll located in the right hand side banner, below the categories section.

Please send this link to your friends and colleagues and ask them to take part. If you have a blog or website of your own, please mention the poll.

Link:www.footy-boots.com

Last nights threat of a boycott by German football players, in their friendly game against Sweden was averted.

Some of the senior players talked with the German Football Association over sponsorship rules and came to an amicable agreement. The agreement meant the German team played and came out 3-0 victors of Sweden. (German Football Boot Row)

Germany’s sponsorship and equipment contract, stated players must wear football boots made by Adidas when playing for their country even if they have personal contracts with other football boot manufacturers. The only other national team said to have a similar agreement is Austria, who wear Puma football boots.

Several German footballers, including World Cup Golden Boot winner Klose and Arsenal No 1 Lehmann, wear boots made by rival sportswear companies when they play for their clubs but are forced to change when they play for Germany.

Germany’s warm up game against Sweden on Wednesday 16th August 2006 could be off, due to a row over football boots.

Adidas, the German football boot company that sponsors the national team, have insisted that the entire squad wear Adidas football boots for the game. With all international players at this level, having personal sponsorship deals with their own choice boot manufacturer, this agreement with Adidas has caused major rifts in the German camp.

“The whole team have spoken out for a free choice of boots,” said the German general manager, Oliver Bierhoff.

It has been reported that several leading players have held talks with the German footballing authorities, Jens Lehmann, Bernd Schneider and Torsten Frings and Golden Boot winner Miroslav Klose. Word is that the German players have threatened to boycott the match unless the players can select their own football boots.

If Adidas succeed in forcing the players to wear football boots that they have not personally selected, I think it will have two effects;

1. I will be surprised if the performance is a good one, knowing what it is like to have to get used to new football boots. It may also be in the back of the players minds, that they are being forced against their will, so a poor performance can easily be blamed on the football boots.

2. Having forced the issue with the German national team, football boot manufacturers may well decide to try and enforce this policy with other national teams and perhaps lead to entire football boot brand sponsorship deals with clubs.

Just my views, tell me your view by clicking the comment link below.

Shevchenko - Reebok Football Boots

Hot on the heels of Thierry Henry (Thierry Henry Football Boots), Andriy Shevchenko has now confirmed he will be wearing Reebok football boots this coming season.

As reported here in July (Shevchenko in New Football Boots?), Shevchenko was contracted to Japanese boot manufacturer Mizuno until June 2009. However, issues surrounding Shevchenko’s intellectual property at Chelsea has meant that Mizuno have had to prematurely end their agreement.

Reebok, who were recently purchased by Adidas, now spearhead the Premier League as far as football boot sponsorship goes, with two of the countries highest profile strikers.

Reebok Football Boots - Thierry Henry
Thierry Henry has now officially launched his partnership with Reebok. With the launch of the partnership Thierry Henry also gets the title of ‘Ambassador for Reebok’.In addittion to Henry wearing Reebok football boots, Henry will also be featuring in Reebok’s advertising campaigns. Two of which are already being circulated.

One of the ad’s has a swipe at Nike (his previous football boot sponsor) and Barcelona (the team that attempted to wrench Thierry Henry away from Arsenal last year) with the strapline “See. I did sign for a new team this summer”.

The second advert also mocks Nike and Barcelona with the strapline “I don’t go anywhere without good reason”.

Reebok, now owned by Adidas, reportedly will pay £9 million to Henry as part of their football boot sponsorship deal, so it is no surprise that Reebok are milking the opportunity to show Henry off.

Reebok Football Boots - Thierry Henry

Shots of Thierry Henry’s New Reebok Football Boots - view the Reebok Pro Rage - Football Boots review.

Thierry Henry’s First Game in Reebok Football Boots

German sportswear firm Adidas launched a huge marketing campaign for the World Cup, with the intention of defending its position as the King of football boots (Adidas V Nike - Adidas V Puma).

Adidas have now reported that they exceeded their profit targets as a result of the World Cup. Despite high marketing costs and the revamping of Reebok, they report net profit rose to 82 million Euros in the second quarter of this year.

Adidas purchased Reebok for 3.8 billion US Dollars, to compete with Nike, but is having to work hard on Reebok. Adidas said the purchase of Reebok would help improve 2006 group earnings, but some American commentators are unsure the acquisition will pay off.

Although Adidas have seen increases in the sales of the football equipment, Puma won the prestigious award by backing the World Cup Champions Italy.

A quick reacting Chinese businessman has registered a trademark of an image featuring French football captain Zinedine Zidane head butting Italian footballer Marco Materazzi.

The trademark image is set to be used for clothing, shoes, hats and beer products, so reports claim.

Zhao Xiaokai, general manager of a sport-related company, paid $250 to register the trademark and is inviting bids in the region of $125,400 for the rights to the image.

The Zidane head butt, has already been used for a series of business ’spin off’s’.

Zidane’s head butt has shot to the top of the French music charts. In just nine days, the record sold 60,000 copies in France and reached the No. 1 in the French music charts. As a mobile ring tone, the track has been downloaded 110,000 times online.

Read about Zinedine Zidane’s Football Boots

English Teams Kick Off Champions League

Arsenal and Liverpool this week begin the long road towards the Champions League final. Arsenal begin away in a tricky tie with the Croatians Dinamo Zagreb, whilst Liverpool begin at home to Maccabi Haifa of Israel.

Both of these English sides may well give competitive debuts to new signings, Arsenal are expected to bring Tomas Rosicky on from the bench and Liverpool are likely to start with Craig Bellamy and Peter Crouch.

As much will be expected from both Rosicky and Bellamy from their clubs, we decided to look at what equipment these payers will be wearing on their feet - their Football Boots.

Tomas Rosicky Football Boots

Rosicky will be wearing the Nike Total 90 Supremacy football boots. These football boots were launched during the World Cup and have been used by several top professional football players now. Amongst the most high profile is Wayne Rooney, who was said to be consulted during the design of the football boot. Unfortuantely, the first time Rooney played in the Nike Total 90 Supremacy, he broke his metatarsal.

Buy the Total 90 Supremacy football boots Order Here

Craig Bellamy Football Boots

Bellamy also wears Nike football boots, but opts for the lightweight Nike Mercurial Vapor III. This 3rd generation Mercurial Vapor is also highly popular amongst professionals. Fellow potential debutant for Liverpool Jermaine Pennant also wears the Nike Mercurial Vapor III football boots.