Socceroo hero Harry Kewell has walked ? well, hobbled ? away from a megamoney deal with adidas to wear the football boots of a virtually unknown new Australian company… for nothing.
The Liverpool star and his manager Bernie Mandic have a fearsome rep for always battering out the best possible deal, but he’s turned his back on an adidas contract worth up to $1m simply because the new boots from Brisbane-based Nomis are just so good.
“It’s a lot of money, but you can’t put a value on your career,” said Nomis founder Simon Skirrow. “And the reality is that’s just a few weeks’ wages for him at Liverpool. The simple fact was he really liked the way it felt.”
The switch first came to notice when Kewell took to the field for the FA Cup Final against West Ham in a pair of Nomis boots with the labels cut off to protect his contract. At the World Cup he was duty bound to play matches in his three-stripe sponsor’s shoes ? but every day in training, he went back to his pair of Nomis.
Skirrow insists he never approached the star to switch boots, and said the star found out about the boots when he was brought a pair back from Australia by his agent.
“We were staggered when we saw him come onto the field for the FA Cup wearing our boots,” said Skirrow. “And obviously we were delighted. You want a big name star to be wearing your boots ? and for him to wear it at the FA Cup was just fantastic. We’re not even a pin on the map compared to the big companies like adidas and Nike.”
An adidas spokesman said Harry wants to concentrate on getting fit and back playing rather than his sponsorship obligations. “His contract is more or less up as of now,” he said. “We’re still in talks with Bernie Mandic but he’s free to wear what he likes.”
Ironically, Skirrow is the ex-boss of adidas’s world soccer division which designed the now-legendary Predator football boot. He quit the German firm to come to Australia four years ago to set up his own firm. After a lifetime involved in the creation of sports equipment, he saw a niche in the market for boots that addressed health, comfort and safety issues rather than just looks and lifestyle. He completely redesigned the way boots are put together and brought in radical new technology to revolutionise performance.
Starting off with a lightweight design to cope with the sprint bursts of the modern game, Skirrow integrated new coatings on kangaroo leather to increase grip in the wet or dry. He also brought in padding to increase comfort and protection.
“People think having blisters is normal when wearing boots,” he said. “But of course, it’s not. You should be able to wear a boot for 90 minutes without being in pain. Using leather means the boot stretches to fit your foot and allows sweat to evaporate, as sweat causes abrasion which causes blisters.”
The treated leather means more control of the ball without sacrificing comfort or safety. One independent test by players rated Nomis boots as the best on the market. Skirrow hopes Kewell’s free endorsement will kickstart sales after two years in business.
“We were already expecting a 300 percent increase in sales before this,” he said. “But who knows where it will go now…”
Artile from FourFourTwo Australia
In a crowded market, led by huge companies with established brands, it can be a daunting task trying to make a mark. That’s the intention of Nomis, a football boot manufacturer who first released football boots for sale last year.
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Evy11 said: Comment 31 July, 2006 @ 9:39 pm
These Boots are the best in the business