CHOOSING THE PERFECT FOOTBALL BOOT

24th July 2009
in: Football Boot Awards,Football Boot Care,Football Boots

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We quizzed Footy Boots Awards ambassador Craig Johnston about choosing the perfect football boot.….
footy boots awards criag johnston

Now, you’d think that former Liverpool star Craig Johnston would probably vote for the Predator as he dreamed it up. But the revolutionary designer and Footy Boots Awards adviser was giving nothing away when we asked him to give us his opinion on what made the perfect football boot. However, what he did come up with were some brilliant pointers as to what you should look out for when spending your ‘hard-earned’ on a new pair of football boots.

6 Tips – Choosing the Perfect Football Boot

1. What conditions are you playing in?

First of all are your football boots for winter or summer use, are they to be studded or rubbers? It sounds silly but if you don’t think it through you may end up with the wrong pair of football boots for the conditions, always a good players nightmare. Ideally, all serious players must have a great pair of interchangeable studded shoes, a great pair of rubbers (moulded) or bladed, and a great pair of indoor or astroturf boots.

2. What are they made of?

This is fundamental to your choice of football boot. Leather is still my favourite but some synthetics these days are very acceptable and have some interesting properties. Beware however as some synthetics at the lower price points are counter-productive to a good feel of the ball, they make you feel like you are wearing a pair of galoshes. On top of this some synthetics have no breathability, so your feet get very clammy very quickly.

footy boots awards adidas adipure ii

Up for Populist Football Boot of the Year, the K-leather adidas adiPure II

3. Comfort and craftsmanship

Comfort is a given. If they are not comfortable, don’t buy them. Good simple craftsmanship always wins for me over garish fads and gimmicks, and there are lots of them these daysÃ¢â‚¬Â¦yuk.

4. Lightness and suppleness

Lightness and supplenessÃ¢â‚¬Â¨ are are always key indicators if a shoe is well made. The perfect football boot is always rigid where it needs to be but flexible elsewhere. It is always stiff from toe to heel and supple width ways where the foot naturally bends.

footy boots awards puma v1.08

A contender in Panel Football Boot of the Year, the lightweight PUMA v1.08

5. Cleat concept

Again, what players want from a sole plate is more of what they do naturallyÃ¢â‚¬Â¦therefore the manufacturers will promise more grip, more thrust, more turning traction, less mud clog and more easily changeable cleats. The stud or cleat concept, shape and positioning are really important, as well as the ability to quickly and easily change the height of the stud. What’s often overlooked but important to me is the feel of the studs underneath your hot spots. You should ask yourself, what is the stud placement and layout concept, are they comfortable. If not, wait till you have gone 90 minutes with them on a dusty dry pitch in summer and see how red raw your feet will be.

6. Value for money

I am not going to name names, but quite often a manufacturer who has some proprietary technology at the top end football boot will pull this technology down to a lower price point to make a better shoe at a lower price. This is good value. Other manufacturers will make up a gimmick, name, colour or performance concept to just hit that price point. Not good. So shop around, use common sense, and try to see which brand is full of it and which brand and football boots are the real deal.

footy

The F50i Sprint Skin features in the Most Innovative Feature Award

Craig Johnston, was a Liverpool footballer from 1980 to 1988. Craig invented the Traxion sole, used on many football boots, he designed the Predator Adidas football boot used by the likes of David Beckham and Steven Gerrard.

Craig Johnston:

For me to be asked to be an ambassador for Footy-Boots.com is quite an honour…

Don’t forget to register your vote in the Football Boot Awards 2009…

14 Comments

Splinter09
July 24, 2009
12:13 pm

I want those ones in the front page image! What are they Gladiator football boots? lol

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Daniel3
July 24, 2009
2:00 pm

What the hell are those ones from the front page?! =O

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Jed
July 24, 2009
2:02 pm

Useful set of tips. Keep them coming.

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Kyle
July 24, 2009
3:04 pm

Nice read – some things in there I’d never considered!

Also those front page boots are ‘The Pig’.

They’re a concept boot Mr Johnston developed after the Predator – They’re essentially the Predator rubber vamp idea taken to the extreme!

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cr7wonka
July 24, 2009
6:11 pm

hahha cool

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rbarsenal
July 24, 2009
10:53 pm

F50′s seem to fit into the tips perfectly:

1. Doesn’t matter the condition; just change the studs (they even have indoor studs now!)

2. The F50i has the “Sprint Skin”, which is surprisingly comfortable for a synthetic.

3. The new F50′s are more comfortable and use better materials than the previous models.

4. Not as light as vapors or V.1.08′s, but very supple and definitely not noticeably heavy (feel surprisingly light).

5. Stud placement and concepts have been constantly refined.

6. Buy 1 pair of F50′s (like I did), and then just order new uppers for about $100 and you basically get a new boot. A lot cheaper buying parts than buying whole boots

BTW, what does the “F” in F50 stand for?

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martincillo
July 25, 2009
1:59 am

why call them the pig ?
cause that make a pig sound when kickin’ the ball they said.

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matt
July 25, 2009
7:46 am

F50′s and water don’t mix

You can never screw those studs tight enough.

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martincillo
July 25, 2009
9:02 am

pro playing in turf shoes ???

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James
July 27, 2009
3:50 pm

I got my new boots for the 2009/2010 a few weeks, a pair of Grey/Silver/Black Adidas Predator Powerswerves with blades, they are great for long shots and curling the ball, pretty light weight and feel good on my feet.

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Nahin
July 28, 2009
1:16 pm

Adipure boots are no good…..they tear off too easily….i’ve changed em’ twice….now i wear F50′s….the good thing about F50 is that you get good balance when you stand on your toes….and nice striking too !!!!

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freindly neibourhood spiderman
August 1, 2009
6:12 pm

In response to rbarsenal's comment:

the f in f50 stands for football so f50 tunit means football 50 tune it it is called football fifty cause adidas habe been around for 50 years

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Conall McGrandles
February 16, 2010
4:14 pm

Adidas Adipure, Nike Tiempos !

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Conall McGrandles
February 16, 2010
4:17 pm

Adidas Adipures or Nike Tiempos are the perfect boots !

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