Whilst you are doubtless looking forward to receiving your Christmas presents, including the obligatory socks and scarf combo from Auntie (insert name here), here’s something that will really brighten up your Festive period.

We’re giving you a chance to win a fabulous Christmas present for yourself or a friend – a pair of Concave PT-1 football boots, signed by Liverpool and Celtic legend and Concave ambassador Kenny Dalglish.

Concave boots have certainly created a ton of interest since they were exclusively revealed by Footy Boots and subsequently launched in the UK market earlier this year. Opinion, and there’s been a whole heap of it, has been divided between lovers of the boot and others who say that the new design offers little and will never catch on.

So why not find out for yourself?

Entering our competition couldn’t be easier.

We are looking for you to come up with the funniest Christmas card greeting to the professional player or manager of your choice. Extra marks will be considered for originality, creativity, comedic content and possibly, insulting (but cleanish) banter.

For example, something along the lines of:

Dear Joe Kinnear

Wishing you a merry f*****g Xmas and a f*****g happy f*****g new year.

F*****g Best Wishes

All the boys in the NUFC press box.

The player or manager concerned can be plying his trade in any league, though it’s probably not going to be worth your while going for the left back at some obscure side in Ukraine as we’ll have probably never heard of him.

The Footy Boots judging panel has already been assembled and can’t wait to start reading through your entries.

Just use the ‘comment’ facility below to submit your greeting which must be with us before 5pm UK time on 19th December 2008. We’ll publish the winning entry as well as sending the author a brand new pair of Concave’s.

Good Luck.

If you had to name the greatest thing about Argentina, what would it be? 

You’ve certainly got a lot of choice. The Andes mountains, Ladislao Biro – inventor of the ball point pen, gauchos, writer Jorge Luis Borges, the tango, Eva Peron, rugby player Hugo Porta and Maradona to name but a few.

However, in current football terms, if you were asked the same question, chances are many of you would plump for Lionel Messi.

We would too, which is handy seeing as we are giving you a chance to win a pair of signed Lionel Messi football boots.

We’ve got a pair of the Argentine international’s Adidas F50’s, signed by the young superstar and ready to go to a new home.

To enter this great competition all you have to do is purchase any item from the Footy Boots Shop and your name will automatically go in the hat.

There’s no minimum price rule, and the competition is open up until 10th December 2008.

And, if you feel the need to go back and make further purchases, your name will be entered in to the competition as many times as you flash the cash.

Good luck.

Lionel Messi Fact File

Born: 24th June 1987

First club: Grandoli – coached by his father

Health: At 11 was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency

Spain: Left Argentina for a new life in Barcelona after the club guaranteed to pay his medical bills

Debut: 16th October 2004 v Espanyol

Number 10: Inherited Ronaldinho’s number 10 jersey after the Brazilian left for AC Milan

International debut: Sent off after just 40 seconds after coming on as a second half sub versus Hungary on 17th August 2005

Olympics: Was a gold medal winner in Beijing after Argentina beat Nigeria in the final 1 – 0. In front of a 90,000 crowd at the Birds Nest stadium, Messi set up the winner for Angel Di Maria

Competition Terms and Conditions

There are The Oscars, The Baftas, The Country Music Awards and the Farmers Weekly Awards. All important in their own right (as it’s vital to know the identity of Norfolk’s leading combine harvester driver) but a very poor second to the one true poll of poll’s, the Footy Boots.com Football Boots Awards 2008.

Leading global brands from the football boot industry nominated their football boots in six categories;

Categories:

Football Boot Brand of the Year

2007 defending champions Nike

Football Boot of the Year

2007 defending champion Nike Total 90 Laser

Best Looking Football Boot of the Year

2007 defending champion, Adidas F50 Tunit 2

Most Innovative Football Boot of the Year

2007 defending champions, Adidas F50 Tunit 2

Most Comfortable Football Boot of the Year

2007 defending champions, Adidas Predator Absolute

Football Shirt of the Year

This new category will herald your chosen Premier League home shirt of the past season.

Over recent weeks, nearly 14,000 footballers, fans and football boot lovers cast their votes in our public ballot and when the results were calculated, one brand excelled. the Footy Boots Football Boots Awards 2008. When the results were counted one brand really excelled.

View the results of the Football Boots Awards 2008

Pencils at the ready, the Football Boots Awards 2008 are now open!

Head to the awards site now and cast your votes, be entered to win some amazing prizes and check out the best football boots of the past year.

Football Boots Awards

Nominations have been sought from football boot brands worldwide and now the best football boots from the past season are awaiting your selection.

This year we have six categories, the new one this year being Football Shirt of the Season. Nominations for the Football Shirt of the Season Award were pre-selected by the Football Shirt Culture visitors.

Categories

Football Boot Brand of the Year

2007 defending champions Nike

Football Boot of the Year

2007 defending champion Nike Total 90 Laser

Best Looking Football Boot of the Year

2007 defending champion, Adidas F50 Tunit 2

Most Innovative Football Boot of the year

2007 defending champions, Adidas F50 Tunit 2

Most Comfortable Football Boot of the Year

2007 defending champions, Adidas Predator Absolute

Football Shirt of the Year

This new category will herald your chosen Premier League home shirt of the past season.

Prizes

We have a stunning selection of prizes, from the football boots you are voting on, to signed memorabilia, goody bags and shirts. Everyone that votes is in with a chance to win!

1. Win a pair of football boots every year for the next 10 years!

2. Signed football boots

3. Boot brand goody bags

4. Football Shirt of your choice

5. Branded T Shirts

So what are you waiting for? Cast your votes now!

This Monday, 21st July 2008, the Football Boots Awards 2008 gets under way.

Yes it’s nearly that time of year again when we ask you to select your favourite football boots of the past season.

Football Boot Awards 2008

As you would expect, all the leading brands in the marketplace will be involved, all hoping to receive your precious vote for their football boots.

We are delighted to be supported by three sponsors this term, Concave Sports, Kitbag and ZOO magazine.

Categories

Football Boot Brand of the Year

2007 defending champions Nike

Football Boot of the Year

2007 defending champion Nike Total 90 Laser

Best Looking Football Boot of the Year

2007 defending champion, Adidas F50 Tunit 2

Most Innovative Football Boot of the year

2007 defending champions, Adidas F50 Tunit 2

Most Comfortable Football Boot of the Year

2007 defending champions, Adidas Predator Absolute

Football Shirt of the Year

This new category will herald your chosen Premier League home shirt of the past season.

FootballShirtCulture, the leading website on football shirts has run a preliminary vote and their visitors have chosen 10 shirts which will be entered into this new category.

Prizes

We have a stunning selection of prizes, from the football boots you are voting on, to signed memoribilia, goody bags and shirts. Everyone that votes is in with a chance to win!

Voting

Voting starts Monday 21st July 2008, so don’t forget, perhaps register to our email or RSS feed at the top of this page to be reminded.

Video

See the Football Boot Awards 2008 video trailer.

When the soccer pundits and experts put together their Premier League team of the season, it’s worth a bet that most of them will pick a 37 year old in the goalkeeping position.

Not only has David James regained his England place under new boss Fabio Capello but he’s been outstanding for Portsmouth this season as they finished 9th in the table.

David James in his HO Soccer Goalkeeping Gloves

And of course, on Saturday 17th May, James will be in goal for Pompey as they take on Championship side Cardiff City in the FA Cup final at Wembley.

To mark the occasion, Footy Boots, in conjunction with James’ glove supplier HO Soccer, have got a signed pair of gloves which you could win. It’s quick and simple and could put you in line for this tremendous prize. Enter Here

James himself reminds you of a decent red wine, he gets better with age.

Two decades ago he was taken on by Watford before moving on to Liverpool where he spent 7 years. It was the time of the Spice Boy era, those dreadful FA Cup final white suits (bet he won’t make that mistake again this time round) before the defeat to Manchester United and also the period where a couple of high profile howlers led to his nickname ‘Calamity’.

In fact, his time with Liverpool saw him win just one medal from the League Cup. Next up it was Aston Villa and another losing FA Cup final appearance, this time against Chelsea.

So can England’s number one make it third time lucky? And, might you also be a winner with Footy Boots?

Just complete our two minute survey and you could be the proud owner of a pair of signed David James gloves. Enter Here

Good luck.

With this season’s domestic football drawing to a rapid close, it’s time to start thinking about getting in the mood for the Euro’s.

What better way to warm up for the summer spectacle than to refresh your memory with some of the special moments from the past?

To celebrate the upcoming UEFA European Championships ESPN Classic will be screening 28 of the greatest ever Euro fixtures in EuroMania. Featuring matches from 1972 - 2004, fans can relive all the highs (and lows) as they go on a journey through Euro history, and celebrate one of football’s major competitions. EuroMania is on ESPN Classic, Sky Channel 442 every night at 10.30pm from the 6th May onwards.

See the Disco Fever Video.

WIN A PAIR OF NOMIS FOOTBALL BOOTS!

This month ESPN Classic have teamed up with Nomis to offer you lucky people the chance to win a pair of their new 120 GBP / 150 EURO football boots.

For your chance to win the Nomis football boots, answer the simple question here.

If you thought the political situation in the Middle East was tricky to navigate, then you are in for a real rough ride when it comes to the arguments and opinions that surround football boots.

Football Boots, through their creation and performance, or sometimes lack of it, have generated a massive following.

Brands are spending big bucks on marketing campaigns, ads, PR and virals and with good reason. The web is full of blogs and forums, populated by experts (many of them self appointed it must be said) who, it seems, immediately pass judgement on product whether or not they’ve seen it, tried it or tested it.

Football Boots are big. And it only seems right that you, the consumer, have the chance to have a say on what is out there. So, following on from the enormous success of our awards of last year, where you voted in your tens of thousands, Footy Boots is delighted to announce details of the Footy-Boots.com Football Boot Awards 2008.

First off, don’t panic. Voting doesn’t start for 2 weeks so you’ve got plenty of time to collect your thoughts, weigh up the pros and cons before you have to come to a decision. Or indeed decisions, as there are 6 categories in which you can vote.

Football Boot Brand of the Year, Football Boot of the Year, Best Looking Football Boot of the Year, Most Innovative Football Boot of the Year, Most Comfortable Football Boot of the Year and Best Premier League Home Shirt of the Year.

Don’t forget, voting starts on Monday 21st July and closes on Saturday 16th August, subcribe to our RSS feed, or email subscription to be reminded when the voting opens. RSS and email subscription at the top right of this page.

It is time to start studying Sky TV’s ‘crossbar challenge’ in earnest and to get off the sofa and hone those keepy-uppy skills.

The reason? Because skills like that, or ones on a similar bent, could be good enough to get you and your mates to the Champions League final in Moscow on 21st May.

Vodafone, under the banner of their ‘Champions Wanted’ campaign are offering this superb prize to the team that can first impress their judges on film and then beat seven other chosen finalists in a 5 a side competition in London next month.

The kind of entries that Vodafone are looking for include individual and team skills, feats of supreme goalkeeping, great shooting, the ultimate goal scoring feat or moments of genius. And you should have a great chance as bearing in mind the criteria, none of the current England team judging by their collective performance this week against France, will be eligible to apply.

All you need to do is prove you’ve got what it takes by filming you and your mates in action then sending Vodafone a video message to 66444 (standard MMS charges apply) or upload it to www.vodafone.co.uk/skills which is also the address where you can find out the complete details of the competition and the kind of entries Vodafone are looking for.

You’ll also be able to marvel at the skills of Formula 1 ace Lewis Hamilton (yes, sickeningly, not only can the boy drive like the wind but he’s pretty damn good with a football as well), watch Owen Hargreaves do his stuff blindfold plus get a look at England cricketers Michael Vaughan and Matthew Hoggard doing their thing. And they’re not bad either.

The 8 teams with the best videos will compete against each other in a 5 a side tournament in London on 12th April - the winning team will then be guaranteed a trip to Russia, representing Vodafone UK in the Vodafone Cup as well as securing tickets and hospitality for the Champions League final.

The closing date for entries is 2nd April so get practising and get filming.

The Football Boots Awards 2008 voting closes on Sunday evening.

This year has seen more votes registered than ever before in the Football Boots Awards 2008, so if you are one of the few that is yet to cast your vote, head over to the Football Boots Awards section now.

Categories

Football Boot Brand of the Year

2007 defending champions Nike

Football Boot of the Year

2007 defending champion Nike Total 90 Laser

Best Looking Football Boot of the Year

2007 defending champion, Adidas F50 Tunit 2

Most Innovative Football Boot of the year

2007 defending champions, Adidas F50 Tunit 2

Most Comfortable Football Boot of the Year

2007 defending champions, Adidas Predator Absolute

Football Shirt of the Year

This new category will herald your chosen Premier League home shirt of the past season.

Prizes

We have a stunning selection of prizes, from the football boots you are voting on, to signed memorabilia, goody bags and shirts. Everyone that votes is in with a chance to win!

1. Win a pair of football boots every year for the next 10 years!

2. Signed football boots

3. Boot brand goody bags

4. Football Shirt of your choice

5. Branded T Shirts

So what are you waiting for? Cast your votes now!

Footy-Boots.com has teamed up with football boot brand Nike to offer one lucky Footy Boots member the chance to win a free Nike iD design session* at London’s NikeTown.

The lucky winner will spend up to an hour with an experienced Nike iD design consultant in the Nike iD design studio personalising his own football boots. The studio, a stylish two-story glass and steel cube suspended above the centre of the NikeTown store on Oxford Street, gives consumers a hands-on design experience and the power to express their individuality by personalizing their sports footwear.

Once the unique football boot design has been created, the boots are stored in an online ‘locker’, before being individually made and delivered.

Even the professionals are getting in on the act. Earlier this month Footy Boots interviewed Spurs and Ireland Striker Robbie Keane in the Nike iD studio as he designed football boots that he will wear against Chelsea, West Ham and Brazil. In Fulham’s game last Sunday against Blackburn, we also spotted USA’s Clint Dempsey wearing a pair of Nike Mercurial Vapor III’s that he had customised using the Nike iD process.

The London Nike iD studio was unveiled on 1st November 2007, with opening night attracting the likes of Arsene Wenger, Theo Walcott, Michael Essien and even Dustin Hoffman! A Nike iD studio is already up and running in NikeTown New York and pilot schemes have been launched in Paris and Osaka.

The London iD studio hosts four mac stations, each manned by a design consultant, who will facilitate consumers’ designs, drawing on their passions and creativity in a one-hour personal consultation. This puts the consumer in control of the design process and extends the NikeiD experience beyond the computer screen where it has lived since its inception in 1999.

To enter the Nike iD competition, simply answer the following question:

Footy Boots recently interviewed Robbie Keane during his own Nike iD session. What type of Nike football boots does Robbie wear?

To answer this question log into your Footy Boots members account and send a Private Message to Admin with your answer.

To register as a Footy Boots member click here

Closing date for answers: Wednesday 5th December 2007. The winner will be the first correct answer drawn at random.

* Prize includes Nike iD design session and free pair of personalised football boots only. Transport, travel, accommodation and any other costs incurred are the sole responsibility of the prize winner. Competition open to UK residents only.

Footy-Boots.com is giving away a free Soccer Pro Player Pack* worth £9.99 to the first ten people who request it on the Footy Boots Forum!

Soccer Pro is a new match supplement which has been developed in response to the intensifying demands of the modern game. It claims to bolster the performance levels of professional footballers. Premiership stats for the 2006/7 season show that 151 goals were scored in the final ten minutes of the match, that’s over 16% of all goals scored. Footballers in 2007 are quicker, stronger and bigger than ever before. The top players are running close to 12km per match, so it’s hardly surprising they are getting so tired late in games. Muscle cramp and blips in concentration are signs of fatigue and often result in late goals.

It’s not often that we here at Footy-Boots.com look to endorse a product, but after testing Soccer Pro ourselves we found it really improved our energy levels, especially in the final stages of our matches.

Soccer Pro took over three years to develop. The head of RnD at Soccer Pro HQ, Dr Mathew Leigh, reveals more about the recently patented formulation: ‘Our aim was to create a product specifically for the modern Pro-footballer. Soccer Pro has been designed to fit into a player’s existing match-day routine and give them something extra during the vital stages of the match. Our challenge was to deliver cutting-edge ingredients into a format that worked for footballers.’

Soccer Pro can be used shortly before kick-off or at half-time. Each sachet contains one match serving and the small, chewable tablets are fruit-flavoured and easy to eat. All the ingredients in Soccer Pro are totally natural and 100% safe for sports use.

Although Zuku, the manufacturers of Soccer Pro, would not reveal the specific professional players using Soccer Pro, they are currently supplying a number of professional clubs and the product has been well received.

For your chance to win a Soccer Pro Player Pack*, (containing six sachets - retail price £9.99) absolutely free, click here to go to the Footy Boots Forum now and make your request!

*Competition only open to people resident in UK.

Votes have now been counted in the hugely successful first ever International Football Boot Awards and the winners can now be revealed, with all the category results on the 2007 Football Boot Awards site!

Given the stature of the Football Boot Awards and the interest generated amongst the professional football ranks, it was only right that Footy-Boots.com presented the winning awards to some of the biggest stars of international football.

Football boot brand Nike, who has recently been in talks to buy out Umbro, scooped both the Football Boot Brand of the Year, and the Football Boot of the Year with its Nike Total 90 Laser. The delighted duo of Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney and Nike UK Football Manager George Weber were on hand to collect the coveted award trophies.

Weber commented: “Nike is delighted to be the first recipient of the Football Boot Brand of the Year Award. It’s always a good feeling when you win an award but especially when they are voted for by people as knowledgeable as the visitors to Footy-Boots.com.“

Adidas prevailed in the three remaining categories, with the Poppy Red F50 Tunit 2 securing top spot in the Best Looking Football Boot section, the Adidas Predator Absolute grabbing the Most Comfortable Football Boot crown and the Macaw Slime Green F50 Tunit 2 winning the Most Innovative Football Boot Prize.

Adidas Predator Absolute wearer and Manchester City and England defender Micah Richards was first in line, to accept the Most Comfortable Football Boot Award, with Poppy Red F50 Tunit 2 football boot endorsee and Arsenal and Togo hitman Emmanuel Adebayor being presented with the Best Looking Football Boot gong. Fellow F50 Tunit 2 wearer Ashley Young of Aston Villa and England completed the superstar trio by collecting the Most Innovative Football Boot Prize on behalf of his favourite football boot brand.

So we know who won the Football Boot Awards!but who won the amazing top prize of a signed pair of John Terry Umbro X Boot Destroyer’s and the runners up prize of a pair of football boots every season for the next five seasons!

Amongst the thousands of Footy-Boots.com visitors that voted, Jeremy Lee scooped the top prize with Nick Scott winning the runners up prize. Congratulations to both of you!

Thanks to everyone that voted and keep checking out Footy-Boots.com for updates on next year’s Football Boot Awards

To see the comprehensive list of results, check out where your favourite football boots ranked, and to see more images of the top footballers who collected the awards, click here to go to the 2007 Football Boot Awards site.

Text BOOTS to 81066 to sign up to the Footy-Boots.com Monthly Text Messaging Service for your chance to win November’s prize of a pair of Errea Prima Top Football Boot! (Terms and conditions apply)

Errea Prima Top Football Boot Review

Italian sportswear manufacturer Errea, was founded in 1988 in Parma, Northern Italy. Although Errea is well known in the UK for supplying football kits to the likes of Middlesbrough, Brighton, and Burnley, the sports brand also produces a range of football boots and has an agreement in place for the Middlesbrough FC Academy players to wear Errea football boots. In 2005, Errea Sport was established in the UK to spearhead a major expansion of the brand and begin its foray into the domestic football boot market.

Errea Prima Top

The Errea Prima Top is a available in a traditional clean black colour and features a water-resistant full grain kangaroo skin upper. The upper includes full nylon lining, stretch proof side stitching and reinforced internal side panels.

An Androform inner sole is patented with Errea’s Antishock Technology system, with a texon insole. The Prima Top is available in both a six super-light screw-on stud soft ground option and a twelve moulded stud firm ground configuration.

At a retail price of £84.99, the Prima Top is Errea’s leading football boot, and it also caters for a wider foot than that of Errea’s other top end boot, the Super Top. Available up to a size 13, the football boot will also suit footballers with larger feet.

Colourway: Black
Size: 4 - 13
RRP: £84.99

Remember to Text BOOTS to 81066 for your chance to win a pair of Errea Prima Top football boots!