The Footy Boots panel select their top picks of the weekend.

After a three month lay-off Premier League football is back. And to celebrate we kick the season off with our favourite goals from the weekend.

4. Cesc Fabregas - Everton 1-6 Arsenal

Two goals scored from skipper Cesc Fabregas.

The Arsenal skipper bagged a brace but it was his second that caught our eye. The Spaniard wearing Nike Tiempo III football boots, carved through the Everton midfield before arrowing a long range shot on the run, which buried itself in the corner of the Everton goal.

3.  Emmanuel Adebayor - Blackburn 0-2 Manchester City

Debut goal for Emmanuel Adebayor.

It took Adebayor just 3 minutes to open his account with Man City.  The Togo striker in his F50i football boots won possession before supplying Shaun Wright-Phillips out on the right. Adebayor continued his run and received a roll ball back from SWP, his first time shot flew passed the helpless Paul Robinson.

2.  Benoit Assou-Ekotto - Tottenham 2-1 Liverpool

Eyeing up a regular game following his spectacular goal, Assou-Ekotto.

Spurs upset the odds with this win over title challengers Liverpool. Goal of the game was undoubtedly from Cameroon international Benoit Assou-Ekotto, scoring his first goal for Spurs wearing Puma V1.08 football boots, he released a thumping drive from 25 yards which rifled into the top corner.

1.  Hugo Rodallega - Aston Villa 0-2 Wigan

 Hugo Rodallega, old boots, but we’re likely to see more of them.

Our goal of the weekend falls to Hugo Rodallega of Wigan. The Colombian striker hammered a dipping, angled rocket of a half volley over Brad Friedel from 25 yards. Whilst the goal itself was exquisite, we were interested to hear that Rodallega, who was wearing the Mercurial Vapor IV Citron, made a late football boot change. Ribbed the day before by his captain, Rodallega ditched his original choice of football boot for the dated Vapor IV Citron. What’s the odds he will stick to that model now?

Need a recap? See the weekend highlights in the video player on the right.

Think there was a better goal at the weekend? Let us know in the comments section below.

Golden Balls David Beckham has suggested that he could manage a Team GB football team at the 2012 Olympics.

London has now officially become the next Olympic city, after Guo Jinlong, Mayor of Beijing handed over the Olympic flag to London Mayor Boris Johnson. British icon David Beckham was on hand to add, and maintain, his global celebrity status.

Beckham Coach

Beckham appeared on the top of a red London double decker bus that was driven on to the track with London - Beijing - London written across the side and the No 2012 on the front. Beckham then duly kicked a football into the cheering crowd.

Beckham afterwards said he wanted to see a GB football side competing at the 2012 Olympics….

We deserve a Team GB in London and I hope it gets sorted.

When asked if he would like to coach the side, he replied:

Who knows? Let’s see, anything is possible.

Alex Ferguson has already been elected as a favourite to manage the side, with Sebastian Coe and Gordon Brown both said to have asked the Scotsman. Perhaps with Beckham as coach?

Tell us what you think by voting in our poll, located on the bottom right of this page.

Newcastle’s Michael Owen tops the British Football Rich List.

British football is still spending big. Foreign owners, TV deals and the popularity of the Premier League worldwide means that the credit crunch is not pinching at our footballers pockets.

Based on The Sunday Times Rich List of people in Britain under the age of 30, the list throws up a couple of surprises, like Harry Kewell!

Harry Kewell - Joint 9th - £13 million

A career blighted by injuries, led Harry to make just 93 appearances in five years for Liverpool. High salaries and a high profile in Australia has helped Harry into joint 9th place.

Harry slipped into this list as it was researched prior to his departure to Galatasaray.

Harry Kewell wears Nike Tiempo Air Legend II football boots

Didier Drogba - Joint 9th - £13 million

The Ivorian forward has been a huge success at Chelsea since his £24 million transfer from Marseille in 2004.

He expects to improve his £90 K per week salary, which along with a Nike endorsement agreement and a sponsorship deal with Samsung, makes a Didier a very wealthy young man.

Didier Drogba wears Nike Mercurial Vapor IV football boots

Damien Duff - 8th - £14 million

Starting his career at Blackburn, Duff moved to Chelsea in 2003 (£17 million) and then Newcastle in 2006 (£5 million). Along with the transfers, a Lucozade sponsorship deal and Adidas boot deal means Duff comes in at 8th in this survey.

Damien Duff wears Adidas adiPURE football boots

Cristiano Ronaldo - 7th - £15 million

Expect Ronaldo’s stock to rise. Said to be staying in Manchester now, his £120 K per week salary and deals galore, notably with Suzuki, Coca Cola and of course his Nike football boot agreement will without doubt grow.

Cristiano Ronaldo wears Nike Mercurial SL football boots

John Terry - 6th - £16 million

Chelsea captain John Terry has a staggering £140 K per month salary. Topping that figure up are sponsorship deals with Sansung, Nationwide, Pro Evolution Soccer and an Umbro football boot deal.

John Terry wears Umbro SX Valor football boots

Steven Gerrard - joint 4th - £19 million

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard earns £120 K per month. He’s been at Liverpool all his career, so no transfer fee cut boosts his bank balance, but a book deal made up for that. He also has a major football boot deal with Adidas.

Steven Gerrard wears Adidas Predator PowerSwerve football boots

Frank Lampard - joint 4th - £19 million

Fat Frank, named because of his bank balance? Frank has just extended his Chelsea contract, putting him on £33 million over 5 years. When you add in his Pepsi and Gatorade deals, his autobiography back in 2006 and an Adidas football boot deal, Frank is unlikely to be hard up after hs carrer finishes.

Rio Ferdinand - 3rd -£28 million

Rio’s £120 K per month wages are supported by two large transfers, first from West Ham to Leeds (£18 million), then Leeds to Manchetser United (£30 million). His book deal, Ben Sherman modelling contract and Nike football boot endorsement agreement places Rio in 3rd spot.

Rio Ferdinand wears Nike Total 90 Laser II football boots

Wayne Rooney - 2nd - £35 million

Wozza at just 22 years old is in good financial health. Wages £115 K per month, deals a plenty with Nokia, Ford, Asda, and Coca Cola. Add in a £5 million advance book deal and a Nike football boots sponsorship deal and Coleen will be well pleased with her new hubby.

Wayne Rooney wears Nike Total 90 Laser II football boots

Michael Owen - 1st -£41 million

The little man who’s career started so brightly at Liverpool has made a small fortune thanks to having an ideal image for markting. Nestle, Persil, Pro Evolution Soccer, Tissot and Jaguar all pay to have Owen’s name associated with their brands. As does Umbro who pay him to wear heir football boots.

His moves from Liverpool to Real Madrid and then to Newcastle all helped Owen hit the top of the British Football Rich List.

Michael Owen wear Umbro Speciali football boots

Rene Higuita is delighted to have had his “Scorpion Trick” voted the Best Football Trick Ever. Footy Boots caught up with the Colombian goalkeeper….

Rene Higuita topped our sensational poll earlier this week, HIGUITA’S SCORPION KICK VOTED THE BEST EVER FOOTBALL TRICK.

The result has seen the former Colombian goalkeeper reclaim celebrity status, with global newspaper coverage and features on Colombian TV news shows.

We thought it was only right to congratulate Rene officially, so we sent our South Amercian correspondent Felipe Bazon on a trip to Colombia, where 41 year old Higuita is in training with his club Deportivo Pedreira.

Footy Boots - Rene, congratulations, you have been voted no 1 in the poll of the best football tricks ever, how do you feel?

Rene Higuita - Well I was very surprised when I heard the news. I was actually eating breakfast when I heard, but of course I was very happy to hear this.

I am so happy with this award, in fact delighted that this trick has beaten other great tricks performed by other football legends.

Footy Boots - The poll was conducted on an English speaking site, did you know you had so many fans outside of South America?

Rene Higuita - No I didn’t but it’s great to know that my trick has been recognised worldwide.

Now I can die in peace knowing that my trick will be remembered by my sons, grandsons and many generations to come as the best football trick ever.

When you love the game so much and play with your heart things like this are likely to happen and I am delighted to be recognised for that.

Footy Boots - How did you originally come up with the Scorpion Trick?

The Scorpion was created five years before I performed the trick at Wembley.

I was shooting a Colombian soft drink TV commercial with some kids. One of the kids chipped the ball over me and I reacted with the Scorpion move. Luckily they were recording at the time and the Scorpion Trick ended up on the commercial.

Five years later, and after the Scorpion had been on the commercial time and again, I’d get loads of requests from fans and people around the world asking me to perform the Scorpion, so I decided to do the Scorpion live to the world.

Footy Boots -  Rene, it was a pleasure talking to you, do you have a final message?

Rene Higuita - Yes, I’d like to dedicate this victory to my family and all the Colombians. Thanks to all the Footy Boots readers that voted and the ones that didn’t. God bless all Footy Boots readers.

Rene Higuita was interviewed live on Colombian TV Channel Caracol,here’s the video.

Ryan Giggs helped Manchester United reclaim the Premier League trophy. Having won 10 title medals in his illustrious career, should he also get the accolade as the best player the Premier League has ever seen?

It was the 29th November 1987, when Alex Ferguson made one of the best signings of his managerial career. Ferguson signed a 14 year old boy onto the Manchester United’s books. On the 9th July 1990, Ryan Giggs was given a Manchester United contract - almost 18 years ago.

Ryan Giggs made his first team début for Manchester United against Everton, on the 2nd March 1991. That was 758 games ago, now Ryan Giggs has equalled Bobby Charlton’s appearance record for the club and may well surpass it when Manchester United face Chelsea in the Champions League final in Moscow next week.

The Greatest

When people think about the best player to grace the Premier League, a few names always crop up; Cantona, Henry, Zola, Bergkamp, Shearer, Cech, Adams and there are others, but few can dispute that Giggs is amongst the list.

Honours

Looking at his unrivalled war chest of honours (right hand side), nobody comes close to the Welsh Wizard, but its not just his medals that make Giggs the best the Premier League has seen…..

Talent

Giggs started his career as a left winger. His pace, control, balance and skill frightened full backs all over the world. It drew comparisons with another footballing legend, George Best and he was awarded the U-21 European Footballer of the Year.

Aged 17 he became the youngest player to represent Wales internationally. He went on to gain 64 caps before retiring from international football in 2007.

Consistency

Giggs has maintained his form throughout his career at Manchester United, at the top level of football, never making fewer than 30 appearances in a season. A formidable record considering the competition for places and the standard of the game he has played.

Loyalty

In an age where moving clubs every few years is so commonplace, it’s rare to see a player stay at a club as long as Giggs has. He could have earned millions in transfer fee’s over the years, instead he focused on his football.

Off the Field

Giggs is a great role model for children. He now refrains from over publicising himself, something he was perhaps guilty of when he first came on the scene. Even his football boot sponsor has been consistent, Giggs has been with Reebok for several years now and currently wears the Reebok SprintFit football boots.

Versatility

Of late Giggs has demonstrated that he is not a one trick pony. As the years have crept up on him, he has had to adapt his game as he has lost a little of his pace.

Giggs started out as a pacey winger, before adapting to play as a central striker and more recently he has been used as a central midfielder.

Ryan Giggs

Few can contest the ability of Ryan Giggs, he’s performed at the very top level for almost two decades and his attitude has been exemplary. Look at the all round player and person Ryan Giggs is, he’s the greatest the Premier League has ever seen.758

Cristiano Ronaldo has been voted by his fellow professionals as the best player in the country.

Player of the Year

The Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo has scooped the PFA Player of the year award for the second time in succession, a feat last achieved by Thierry Henry back in 2003 and 2004.

Ronaldo had to rise above star studded selection of contemporaries including; Emmanuel Adebayor, Cesc Fabregas, Steven Gerrard, David James and Fernando Torres.

Cristiano Ronaldo wears Nike Mercurial Vapor IV football boots.

Young Player of the Year

The young player of the year award was won by Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas. At 20 years old, the young midfielder is the first Spaniard to have won the trophy.

He beat off challenges from Fernando Torres, Cristiano Ronaldo, Micah Richards, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young.

Cesc Fabregas:

Of course I am very proud because this is a very prestigious trophy - football is a collective game, and you always prefer to win trophies, but I’m very honoured to receive this award.

Cesc Fabregas wears Nike Tiempo Legend II football boots.

Team of the Season

The team of the season includes one player from each position to make a first 11.

Goalkeeper: David James - Kelme football boots

Right Back: Bacary Sagna -Puma V Konstrukt II football boots

Left Back: Gael Clichy - Adidas World Cup football boots

Centre Half: Nemanja Vidic - Puma V Konstrukt II football boots

Centre Half: Rio Fedinand - Nike T90 Laser II football boots

Right Midfield: Cristiano Ronaldo - Nike Mercurial Vapor IV football boots

Left Midfield: Ashley Young - Adidas F50.8 Tunit football boots

Centre Midfield: Steven Gerrard - Adidas Predator PowerSwerve football boots

Centre Midfield: Cesc Fabregas - Nike Tiempo Legend II football boots

Striker: Fernando Torres - Nike T90 Laser II football boots

Striker: Emmanuel Adebayor - Adidas F50.8 Tunit football boots

There’s nothing like an awards ceremony. Red carpet, cameras flashing, high fashion, celebs, goody bag and all that.

That’s why at Footy Boots, we are asking for your help so we can hopefully experience all of the above plus a few too many glasses of bubbly and a drunken cab journey home interspersed with some of our favourite football chants.

Footy Boots has been nominated as Best Sports Blog in the 2008 blogger’s choice awards, the most popular user-generated blog voting site on the planet!

If you think Footy Boots is deserving of such an honour, and why wouldn’t you, then you can vote on line at this address. All you need to do is follow the link, register and then cast your vote. It’ll only take a minute or so.

VOTE FOOTY BOOTS

If nothing else, it would be great to get a football site to the top of the voting leaderboard. Last year’s winner was a horse racing blog, and we can’t have that again can we?

Go on - this is your chance to generate some excitement in the Footy Boots office, and the last time that happened was when the boss bought in a video of some new Adidas football boots only to find that someone had recorded a film over it best described as adult entertainment!

Here’s the link again VOTE FOOTY BOOTS

Thanks from the Footy Boots team.

Nike have sued Adidas over a Chinese footballer’s endorsement contract in China.

Football boot brands Nike and Adidas have been in court battling over the contract of Zheng Zhi, the captain of China’s national football team and Charlton Athletic player.

Zheng Zhi

Zheng Zhi signed for Charlton from Shenzhen Ping’an on loan initially in December 2006 before making a brief return for Shenzhen Ping’an and then signing a permanent deal with Charlton in August 2007. In his home country, Zheng Zhi is considered the best Chinese player of his generation, making him a key target for Nike and Adidas to market their products in the country.

The argument between Nike and Adidas revolves around Zheng’s initial contract with Nike, which Nike feel was violated by the player and an approach from Adidas during the time when Zheng was contracted to Nike was immoral.

Nike Lawyer Fu Qiangguo:

Adidas contacted Zheng immorally though it knew clearly Zheng was sponsored by Nike. Adidas benefited the most from Zheng’s breach of contract. While Zheng, lured by the good pay Adidas offered, has also harmed Nike’s interest.

The Nike deal which expired at the end of last year, meant that Zheng would where Nike products whenever possible in public and that he would refrain from wearing other branded products.

Adidas approached Zheng in 2004 to become an ambassador for them, Zheng then asked Nike for an improved deal but it was allegedly refused. In court Nike used evidence to suggest Zheng wore Adidas products in 2005, which violated their agreement. Subsequently, Zheng asked to terminate his agreement with Nike and began promoting Adidas products.

Adidas responded to Nike’s concerns by stating that Zheng was not paid by Nike on time and that this broke their agreement. They also went on to state that the reason Zheng wore the Adidas products was, because he was at the time, on international duty and the national side is sponsored by Adidas.

The court have not yet reached a verdict on the matter.

Zheng Zhi wears the Adidas Predator Absolute football boots.

David Beckham’s Gold Adidas Predator PowerSwerve Football Boots

So Beck’s was granted his 100th cap and as you would expect from the King of Bling when it comes to football boots, he strutted, well he cantered in a nice sparkling pair of Gold football boots, courtesy of Adidas.

Before the game, ardent football boot watchers may have felt deflated, Beckham was warming up at the Stade de France in white PowerSwerve football boots with gold trim - his run of the mill football boots from the DB collection.

But cometh the hour, cometh the photo opportunity!

Beckham certainly didn’t let us down, coming out for the match sporting an embroidered shirt with 100th cap on the chest and yes, sporting a pristine pair of Gold Boots. Golden boots for GoldenBalls.

Having checked with the Footy Boots head boot geek, we can confirm that Beckham’s Gold Boots are no different to his normal Predator PowerSwerves, that is of course apart from the colour. Adidas have made just two pairs of Beckham’s Gold Boots, with 100th cap embroidered on the tongue to commemorate his achievement.

Like Zidane’s football boots in the 2006 World Cup, Beckham’s Gold football boots will not be made available for sale by Adidas.

If you are of a nervous disposition, Welsh or French, this week’s Oh Kay column might be one to avoid. L’enfant terrible Andy Kay is back on the warpath.

Naughty, naughty

England boss Fabio Capello says he’s squarely behind the FA’s ‘respect the referee’ initiative after watching the fun and games following Ashley Cole’s tackle on Alan Hutton in the Chelsea v Spurs game last week. Cole, at least, has had the good sense to apologise for both the tackle and his attitude towards referee Mike Riley. More and more Premier League players seem to be treating the man in black as an annoyance, rather like a large bluebottle buzzing around the family car on the M1, as opposed to the guy in charge. I fear it’s too late for current league players, and although the FA’s move is a welcome one, it doesn’t go far enough. Starting at junior level, one bit of lip to the ref, and the player, and his team, should be marched back 10 metres just as they practice in rugby union. Even more important is to include the raucous parents who scream obscenities from the touchline. Perhaps their enthusiasm to question a referee’s parentage might be somewhat tamed if little Johnny gets a 3 match ban as a result.

Cameras on Cardiff

I’ve got absolutely nothing against Cardiff City but here’s a little scenario for you. It’s the 89th minute of the FA Cup semi final and City’s match against Barnsley is level a 1 - 1. The Yorkshire side make the last attack of the game and a cross from Brian Howard is headed goalwards by substitute Jonathan Macken. The goalkeeper is beaten but a City defender, rushing towards his own line, manages to hook the ball clear. Or does he? Barnsley’s players claim the goal and start celebrating, their dream of an FA Cup final appearance now seemingly a reality. TV pictures prove that in fact, the ball didn’t cross the line but after consulting his assistant, the referee awards Barnsley the goal and blows the whistle for full time. I wonder then if the nonentities that make up the Welsh FA will still be happy with their inexplicable and cowardly decision to suck up to Fifa and oppose goal line technology?

Nosey Michel

Talking of which, one of the architects of the Fifa and Uefa U-turn on goal line technology was Michel Platini. He may have been a glorious player in his day but currently, he shows all the executive skills of a small vole with learning problems. And he just can’t keep his nose out of the British game, criticising this and having a pop at that. Perhaps Monsieur Platini should look closer to home if he wants to effect change. Consider these facts. Eight games in his native France on Saturday produced crowds of 160,000. Eight games in the Premier League on the same day were watched by 243,000 fans….and that’s with none of the big 4 in action. Perhaps that’s the problem. The only reason Platini feels the need to take issue with the game in England is that he realises that no-one gives a flying fig for Ligue 1.

Champion Channel

With ITV retaining the rights to show Champions League football on a Wednesday night, us UK football fans will be assured of some consistency. That being while Arsenal or Chelsea may be away to a top Italian side looking to hang on to a one goal advantage, good old ITV will be showing Manchester United at home to a rubbish French team who they’ve already beaten 16 - nil in the away leg. Got to keep the locals happy….in Surrey!

With none of the Home Nations making it through to Euro 2008, it’s fair to assume that many football fans are going to have quite a lot of spare time on their hands this summer.

OK, it’ll be fine watching the artistry of Henry for France, the defensive know-how of Italy’s Cannavaro or the attacking flair of Portugal’s Ronaldo (though the latter will be harder without the added bonus of being able to scream at the TV ‘go on JT, ‘ave him’).

However, if you want to spice up your Euro 2008 viewing, and find a decent excuse to get out of the shopping during Switzerland v Czech Republic, then the Castrol Index could just be the thing.

As official sponsors of the tournament, Castrol have come up with a fascinating product which will allow all football fans to take on board a huge amount of up to the minute data and turn us all in to managers of the standing of Castrol endorsee Arsene Wenger. However, it’s not clear at this stage if that means not being able to see a game turning incident or bad tackle which happens 3 yards in front of you!

The Castrol Index, which you can find at www.castrolindex.com is up and running ahead of the summer and already is:

Providing in-depth stats e.g. how far and fast players have run (it breaks down how many metres in 5 minute intervals)

Provides heat maps so a viewer can see where a player has run on the field

Ranks every player at the Euro 2008 on a number of criteria (updated by the minute) so you can see which players your team should be signing e.g. the highest ranked player who completes the most passes or makes the most tackles

Real-time updates so player info is updated as it happens (a USP over ProZone or Opta).

You can also see goals scored in 2D versions on the website

Other benefits of visiting the site, once you’ve read every thing on Footy Boots of course, is the chance to win tickets to the Euro 2008 final and meet the player of the tournament.

Despite the best efforts of the Television Match Official (an Australian) denying England a try in the egg chasers World Cup final against South Africa, plus a few other howlers from the wide world of sport, it is getting increasingly difficult to understand football’s lack of enthusiasm for embracing science and in particular, goal line technology (GLT).

There are, of course, some sound reasons against it. Slowing the game down is one, as is the cost of development. But the arguments for not introducing such a scheme are weak in comparison with the benefits. Using the English Premier League as an example, here are just a few reasons why GLT should be used and why it should become the norm.

1) Players and managers are judged on results. Why should they be judged on results which are incorrect?

2) If an audience at home can see if a goal has or hasn’t been scored, how is it possible that the man in the middle can’t be informed of the fact?

3) TV companies and sponsors pay billions of pounds across the world to cover and be associated with major events. Shouldn’t they, their viewers and customers at least be rewarded with the correct result?

4) One wrong decision during a season leading to relegation stands to lose that club £50 million.

According to Sepp Blatter and Uefa President Michel Platini the answer to all of the above is a resounding ‘we don’t care’.

Despite the fact that they backed the idea over a year ago since when a huge amount of time and money has been spent on coming up with a solution based on the Hawk-Eye system, football’s power brokers gave the plan a thumbs down at a recent International FA Board meeting in Scotland. All of this was to the huge embarrassment to the English FA and Premier League who’ve been in the vanguard promoting the idea.

Instead, Platini has persuaded his colleagues to experiment with two extra linesman or goal line assistants. “There is a philosophical debate, it’s very simple,” Platini told The Sunday Telegraph. “Either you help them with additional pairs of eyes or with technology and I’m against technology. Once you start, who knows where you might stop. The 18-yard line, the offside trap? All I’m saying is let’s try my idea.”

Bearing in mind we are talking about goal line technology, it’s ironic that Platini, in opposition to the Hawk-Eye proposal, has simply moved the goal posts.

Strange, you might think, from a man who was part of one of the biggest miscarriages of justice the game has ever known. Clean through on goal in the 1982 World Cup semi finals, Platini’s team mate Patrick Battiston was one on one with the on rushing West German goal keeper Harold Schumacher. Schumacher launched himself at the Frenchman, his hip making contact with Battiston’s face, and the Frenchman fell to the ground unconscious. As Platini said at the time he thought his team mate was dead as he “had no pulse and looked pale.”

Now imagine that the goal line cameras were viewing the field of play and, during the lengthy delay while Battiston was treated, a TMO informed the referee that Schumacher should be dismissed. There is every chance that France would have gone on to win the game and ultimately the tournament itself. Platini’s view on technology might be very different with a World Cup winner’s medal on his mantelpiece.

Blatter insists that “There has been no change of heart. Referees make decisions, not machines,” he said. “I have defended goal-line technology but it has become clear that such systems are too complicated and very costly. Nor would they necessarily add anything positive to the game and could harm the authority of the referee.

“We have to maintain the laws of the game in their simplicity. Do you want technical devices to take decisions? That’s why, after three years of tests with no conclusions, I am in favour of putting the whole thing on ice.”

Cue an infuriated Hawk-Eye MD Paul Hawkins. “”I am livid,” he said.”This decision is completely out of the blue. A year ago they laid down four specific criteria and now they change their minds. My company has invested an awful lot of money and now we will get no return on our investment.”

More to the point however is that some club’s around the world are getting no return on their endeavour. Perfectly good goals not being given, hugely suspect one’s being awarded.

Football may be at the top of the tree in terms of it’s financial appeal but in technology terms, it continues to live in the dark ages.

Images have been leaked that reveal the new Chelsea Home Shirt for season’s 2008 - 2009

Leaked images have been banded around, showing the new home shirt that Adidas have designed for Chelsea to wear from next season.

Here at Footy Boots we try and take a diplomatic approach when it comes to previewing material that is not official, however when the leaking of a new shirt hits the tabloid press we think its fair game to share the news with our audience.

So in today’s Sun we see that they are running with a story featuring Frank Lampard in the Chelsea Shirt. Being the responsible national newspaper that they are, the image must be official, right?

Just take a look at the images below. One is an official image of Frank Lampard in the Chelsea Shirt launch of their current shirt, the other is the new image, with the new shirt.

Now call us sceptical, but these images look remarkably similar. Franks hair gel has maintained exactly the same style for two years and he hasn’t aged one iota.

Anyway, whether the Sun’s make up artists managed to create a miracle or not, we have it from a good source (the guys at Football Shirt Culture) that this is one of many edited images!

New Fulham signing Jari Litmanen could soon be fit to make his debut, thanks to his new football boots.

Jari Litmanen, the Finnish striker signed by Fulham in January is yet to make his debut for the Cottagers, but thanks to work on his new football boots, he should soon be available for selection.

Having overcome a recent heart scare, he has been on the injury list lately with muscle strains. Fulham who are languishing in the relegation zone, are desperate to have the services of Litmanen available as they make a final effort to retain Premier League status.

Litmanen wears Adidas World Cup football boots and has returned to Finland, football boots under his arm. A specialist there has worked with Litmanen previously to alter his football boots to cure the muscle strains. Once the new football boots are ready, he should be fit to play for Fulham at last.

Fulham manager Roy Hodgson “Jari has had Achilles and ankle operations and needs these football boots to correct certain movement in his ankles which, if it doesn’t get corrected, brings about muscle strains. That’s exactly what has happened - he has got a strain on the inside of his thigh that has come about because the new insoles in his football boots that he thought were going to work, didn’t. He has to go back to Finland to have that fixed up. The guy who does it all over there knows all about the background to all his operations.”